Egg problems....

[krazychickylady]

Yesterday I caught one of my hens eating an egg, I grabbed her immediately ( can't believe it ). And I put her by herself since I feel I will have to cull her... But today I went down to water her and she had layed an egg?? She hadn't tried to eat it so what's the deal??? Then my other hens I found an egg broken everywhere ?? Is there another culprit in the hen house or are my best boxes too small and they are stepping on the eggs???

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Broken eggs will be eaten, it's normal, they do it to clean up the nestboxes, make sure yours are well bedded to keep them from cracking since they stand up to push the egg out.

Otherwise make sure you are feeding enough protein and have oyster shells available always. I recommend an 18-20% ration, especially if you are feeding anything extra.

I wouldn't initially condemned your hen without further evidence. I like to take some time to quietly observe them, especially when someone is laying. An egg eater will go immediately to the nests after hearing the egg song quite often and eat the fresh egg.

 

[krazychickylady]

Well that's why I'm concerned I feed 16% layer pellets but I mix in sunflower seeds , whole oats and corn to bring up the protein. Then they have a free feeder of grit and oaster shell at all times. I've been trying to sneak and watch , the girl yesterday had the egg out of the best box into the floor of the coop eating it . But she layed one today and it was fine??? My best boxes are plastic bins that are 15 x 12 x 10 inches high . I've been trying to sneak and watch but I don't know what happened to the broken egg today? I don't know if it was stepped on or what?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Corn is 8 % protein, oats is 12 %, sunflower seeds I can't recall but is around there too. They all add extra fat and can be good in winter, when combined with layer for the diet the total protein drops and chickens get deficiencies. It's exactly what I was doing. So I switched to an all flock and was quite surprised how quickly they molted and returned to laying. They are doing much better now and I recommend switching, a good non medicated grower can work too or a game bird, try to get something with 18-20% protein and slowly switch them over by mixing the two.

I would suspect they need more protein, a bit of cottage cheese, or scrambled eggs can help them get a quick start towards recovery, followed up with a higher protein ration. They will eat less feed too.

 

[krazychickylady]

Well man ... Just goes to show you I thought I had done all my research but I guess I was doing wrong... I'll get some new feed asap!!! Thank you for all your help !!!! I've been worried sick over them !

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

no problem, I still find stuff to learn too, makes it interesting.