grumble grumble, egg eater, grumble

[doubled]

darn it, one of the rescued hens i got is an egg eater...unfortunately she layed in the middle of the night and all i found this morning was the shell so it might be hard to figure out which one she is...hopefully when they get used to their new surroundings she will ease off, either that or i'll have to stay up all night one night, figure out which one she is and confine her in a nest of stone "eggs"

 

[Shifty Joe]

Rescued? Might need to make sure you put her on extra feed and osyster shells for a week... could she have been neglected of the basics?

 

[calicokat]

Ack! That's such a bummer. I did read a solution that might work - someone on here posted about taking an egg and blowing it out so it's empty. Then fill it carefully with liquid dish soap and seal it up (don't remember the specifics on how to do that - sorry). Set that egg in the nest and wait for the chicken to try to eat it.

I think it's funny because I have used the analogy that egg-eating chickens are a lot like a biting two year old in a daycare -- it's hard to stop and it can begin to spread to others! And now it turns out they both have a similar possible solution-- washing the mouth out with soap, LOL!

 

[doubled]

i don't think she was neglected, the guy just realized that neglect might happen if he didn't rehome soon. then they were at another friend's where i know for a fact they were well fed on lay pellets, table scraps and scratch for a week before i go them, but i will stick in a bit of oyster shell to see if that helps, as far as extra food, they get as much lay granuals as they can help themselves to and treats of greens, peas, scratch, grass clippings, etc at least once a day...

 

[feathersnuggles]

A few extra high-quality protein treats and some crushed oyster shell might help fix this problem -- plus constant access to fresh clean water. Recently, I read that some hens will crack open their eggs, if they don't get enough clean water. If they are dehydrated, they will learn to eat their eggs, in order to survive. Made sense to me.

Also, put a wooden egg (or a golf ball) in the nestbox. It helps them not eat their eggs. Also, it's not normal for hens to lay in the middle of the night, unless perhaps she's dropping a partial-shell egg? Extra calcium will help with that. When they have a good firm shell, they usually hold their egg overnight, and lay at earliest dawn. Often, a shell-less egg or a partial-shell egg cannot be held overnight.

 

[fiberart57]

I have a pink marble egg that I put in the coop after one of them laid a shellless egg and it got eaten. My problem child, the culprit, Bunny, went over and pecked at it put it's so hard that she hurts her head, I think, and the egg eating stopped.

I got it from my mom and I don't know where she got it but I think I've seen them in home decorating places and Michaels. What else might work, and I put a bunch around their area before they started laying is rounded river rocks that look like eggs. I live near the Colorado River so I was able to gather a bunch of them.

Mary

 

[rancher hicks]

didn't read all the posts, but I read where a guy made his nest boxes smaller this helped. One thing I do is keep wooden eggs in the nest, all the time. Since the day they began laying. I suppose if they pecked at them it would not feel good and might dissuade them from egg eating.

 

[doubled]

added some oyster shell in for them to eat, plan on picking up some meal worms and crickets at the pet store later if i make it into town, going to search for some rock "eggs" after lunch.
thanks all...