Egg-eating

[Marce705]

Molting does affect their laying though. I was getting between 8 and 12 eggs a day...down to 5 or 6 with a few of them molting. I cant wait until they're done ... it looks like nobody loves them.

 

[jflanny]

Hi -yes, egg eating can be a problem. I usually lose one or two eggs a day but we have 23 hens so we have plenty. However we don't want others to catch on so I try to remember to check for eggs several times daily.

With low egg count be sure to give your hens some oyster shells to mix on feed. I also put golf balls balls in the nest to get them started laying. Egg production has started up again. It does sound like yours are molting but make sure they don't have lice. Those little suckers can cause feather loss and a physical imbalance for the chickens as lice drink a lot of blood .

If you do have bugs, check out the BYC threads and discussion on how to get rid of them.

Lastly, they may be getting older and egg production has decreased.

Good luck!

 

[spcwife]

I was having this issue for a few weeks and have stopped the egg eating by mixing oyster shells into the feeder. I also feed a treat dish in the mornings of either canned cat food or a mixture of strawberry yogurt and oatmeal. They love it and now things seem back to normal. No egg eaters and all eggs are back to being hard. Plus it is enjoyable to watch my girls loving their morning treats. I hope this helps. I make a large batch of the oatmeal mixture and give them a good portion in the morning. Its cheap, simple to make, and they love it. Let me know if this helps out at all.

 

[chicksneedhelp]

Well, I separated the BR and NHR from the RIR and roo yesterday, and did I get a surprise today! The milk chocolate egg that was faithfully laid in an upper cubby was in the coop, but the hen that I thought laid it was not - it was laid by the RIR! I can hardly believe it, and will have to see if this happens again before I do!

The other coop had a kind of pointy latte colored egg like I had seen the BR lay, and next to it was another latte colored egg with a shell that had been dented in several places and had bits of sandy material and odd shadings of color, some darker. So it appears the NHR may be laying the eggs with fragile shells...I thought she was supposed to produce darker eggs? They all have oyster shell in their food, and the others have normal shells. I will try the oatmeal and yogurt - bet they will love it! Thanks so much for the idea! But do you think my NHR could be sick? What should I look for? She is such a sweet girl! Thank you!

 

[chad-o]

I am not getting many eggs, and there is sometimes sticky stuff in the nest box. How do I identify the egg-eater/s? I have golf balls in there, but they are not working. Has anybody successfully done this without culling?

Here is a nonlethal cure.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221421937094?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

 

[3 NH reds]

I can now say egg eating is over. I used a roll out nest bottom from Randall Bukey and screwed a chunk of 2-4 to it It was around $9 and worth it.

 

[sayga]

My husband dropped an egg a few months ago, and so he threw it in the coop. He didn't know it could start them on egg eating and sadly, it did. Now we are missing 3 eggs (out of 5) a day. We have locked them up so they can't free range anymore (to their great annoyance!), but we are still missing eggs.

I am going to first try putting food-colored dish soap into a blown egg and see if I can identify who it is. Our dog kennel right now is being used by 2 chicks, but they are getting bigger and hopefully can go into the run soon and trade places with a bad chicken. I have no problem eating a naughty chicken, but if I can stop them egg eating, I'll do that first.

We have an egg decoy, but it is a rubber egg. It's very solid, but has peck marks in it. But it belonged to my daughter who LOVES playing with eggs, and she may have bitten a chunk out of it before it went to the chickens. Wish I could remember...

 

[chad-o]

My husband dropped an egg a few months ago, and so he threw it in the coop. He didn't know it could start them on egg eating and sadly, it did. Now we are missing 3 eggs (out of 5) a day. We have locked them up so they can't free range anymore (to their great annoyance!), but we are still missing eggs.

I am going to first try putting food-colored dish soap into a blown egg and see if I can identify who it is. Our dog kennel right now is being used by 2 chicks, but they are getting bigger and hopefully can go into the run soon and trade places with a bad chicken. I have no problem eating a naughty chicken, but if I can stop them egg eating, I'll do that first.

We have an egg decoy, but it is a rubber egg. It's very solid, but has peck marks in it. But it belonged to my daughter who LOVES playing with eggs, and she may have bitten a chunk out of it before it went to the chickens. Wish I could remember...

I don't believe those home remedies I think they are old wives tales. You can serve the offender for dinner or use a roll out nest.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321412383687?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

 

[Alden Chickens]

We have 7 hens- some are 1 yr old and some are 2 yr olds. I am fairly certain they are egg eating as the egg count went from 6 a day to 1 or 2 a day. There is at least one that is laying paper thin eggs. There is oyster shell in a feeder but I think I will start to mix it in with their layer feed so they have a better chance of getting it. All but one nesting box was yucky with egg slime and this morning I watched one kick an egg out of the box and all the rest come running to attack it. I am going to have to try some of the above tricks to see if any of them will break the girls of this habit. I try to go out and gather the eggs several times each morning but life on a farm does not allow me time to sit out in a coop. Besides they seem to be ready as one hen plops out her egg to go right at it. We have 6 "ladies in waiting" and I am hoping they don't plan on picking up this habit too. Makes me a little scared to put them with the older ones in another month (actually take down the screen between them and the older ones)

 

[PlaidBattleAxe]

Was checking on my ladies and noticed one had yellow goop on her eye/nostril area. I immediately thought it might be mucous and was worried until I looked closer and saw it was yolk and there was a broken egg (the top pecked completely off like soft boiled) in one of the more unpopular nesting boxes. I'm hoping it was a one time occurrence, but I've put a Band-Aid around her ankle to mark her as the current culprit. I haven't even had my flock a week yet, and I don't want to think about culling any of them. I'm going to up the oyster shell, and I've just increased their feed and run space, and if it happens again I'll try the soap. *sigh*