Hello ~New Here- chickens eating eggs!

[FarmerWife]

Hello All,
I just joined your forum, it's awesome! I have a flock of chickens, since the spring. They hav been laying for a whle now, but recently I noticed I havent been finding the normal amount of eggs. I thought maybe because the season is changing, the eggs were going to be less?? But I found out the problem this morning when I went to feed and water them. Some of the chickens were eating the eggs! What is causing this, and what can I do to stop it, we don't have them for meat, just as pets, and for the eggs. So the soup pot is out of the question, lol ! Also, we were given four hens over the weekend, and since they were new, the other chickens decided to peck the living daylights out of them. I had to put a seperate pen inside the coop to protect the new hens. I was told that if I kept them separated for about a month, that this would resolve itself. I hope this is the case. For some reason these chickens have bald spots, mine look huge, and healthy next to them. Anything I can do for them? Sorry for so many questions all at once, but I figured this was the place to come for answers. Hope someone can help, thanks in advance!!

Blessings to all !

 

[chicmom]

Hello-

Well, first of all, since somebody gave you the new hens, do you know how old they are? They could have bald spots because they are molting. Or.....and I hope this isn't it...they could have parasites like mites or lice....look them over real good......in the vent area and also under the wings.......Also, they could have been over crowded where they used to live, and so they could have just been feather pecked by other chickens.

For the egg eaters, remember to collect the eggs often if you can, and also, put some fake eggs (or golf balls) in the nests. They will peck them, and when they don't break, it may be enough for the hens to lose interest and stop eating them. That's a bad habit that can be hard to break. Another thing you can do is make sure the nesting area is very quiet and dim. Maybe if you have the nest boxes in a dark corner of the coop, and not so out in the open, the chickens will just lay their eggs and leave the nesting area without eating the eggs.......Some people put a curtain in front of the nesting area to keep out the light and make it more private for them.

The golf balls or ceramic eggs work for alot of people.

Good luck to you!
Sharon

 

[abercrombie575]

Give them oyster shell to eat. They will stop eating the eggs. You can buy it anywhere you buy their food.

 

[Chick Charm]

Here are some ideas that usually will help.

1) Keep the new hens separate for 2 to 3 weeks as long as they are in sight of the regular flock. Put them together when they are familiar with one another. Make sure they are healthy before introducing them again. Check for lice and mites. Give them a good dusting if needed before introducing them.

2) Make sure ALL the chickens are getting enough protein. Scrambled eggs, food with a little meat in them like lasagna or the like will help with the protein, in addition to regular feed.

3) Put MUSTARD on the eggs they lay and leave the eggs in the nest box for a few days with the mustard on them. Trust me, they will not be eating the eggs any more. Repeat as necessary.

4) Give them oyster shell in a separate feeder so they can feed on it when they want.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[FarmerWife]

Thank you so much for all of the tips! I hope they stop soon, I'm going to miss the eggs if they don't! We have 16 boxes, so they each have their little box, plus a few extra. I'm also going to have my husband help me raise the nesting boxes off of the ground, maybe it won't be so easy for them that way. I'm going to try the golf balls, and the mustard as well. i'll let you know what happens. They already get the oyster shells, so I doubt much that it's a calcium or vitamin D deficiency. As far as the new chickens, I will definitely check them for mites, I hadn't thought of that, what kind of dust would I put on them if they do have mites or lice? Yikes! Makes my skin crawl. I do have them penned in the coop. The lady who gave them to me said they were a year old. So they aren't too old. They just didn't look healthy to me, I have the same type of chickens, and mine were huge next to the new chickens, they looked mal nourished, she said that she fed them lay mash, but never anything else. I don't give mine lay mash, we give ours flock builder from Purina, plus a bit of oyster shells., and greens from the vegetable garden. We didn't need the lay mash because we have roosters, and they do their job just fine, lol. Anyway, I'll keep you posted, and let you know how things are going. Thanks again for all of your posts, it's so nice to have someplace to go with my questions.

Blessings, grace and peace,
Dianna in NM.