Egg problems

[dustponds10]

Ok so here is what is going on. I just got some hens that started to lay and I am running into a problem with the eggs. they are cracking on the pointy side of teh eggs. here is a picture of my lay boxes. I try to keep wood chips in them but they keep getting tossed out. Any suggestions? I am feeding two kinds of food. Some stuff that our local mill says has all the calcium I need for strong health eggs. I am also feeding a manufactored pellet that is for laying hens. Well, If you could get me some advice for stronger eggs shells that would be awesome. Thanks.

 

[Kittymomma]

Some hens need more calcium then the "normal" range found in most feeds. It's easy to fix though, just put a bowl (I use an old rabbit feeder hung low in the coop) of oyster shell out free choice for them . The ones that need it will eat it and the others won't. Oyster shell is pretty inexpensive so I consider it cheap insurance. You can also crush their eggshells and feed them back to them for extra calcium.

ETA: Your nesting boxes look plenty tall enough that you could add a higher lip to the bottom of the openings and that should help to keep the shavings or whatever you want to use inside the nests where it belongs.

 

[midget_farms]

Put outdoor carpet squares in the nests.

 

[dustponds10]

like the green stuff? Will I have to still put straw in them or will that carpet be good enough to pad the landing