Hen destroying and eating eggs

[David61]

does anybody use google anymore?
Laying box designs image by ladyamare on Photobucket | Chicken nesting boxes, Chicken laying boxes, Chickens backyard (pinterest.com)

roll out nest box slope - Google Search

 

[VlkStinu]

You cram six chickens in this at night?

Cram? They fit there perfectly fine. They spend the day out in the run on the garden, they huddle together for the night and fit in those two nest boxes (and by fit I mean they don't stand on each other's heads, they lay in the straw next to each other). There are two roost bars that can accommodate 6 roosting hens without a problem. Please be aware this is an illustrational photo and you don't see any measurements, so size estimate is very subjective.

 

[VlkStinu]

a simple yet, rough suggestion.... to give your hens some elbow room.
here is my basic idea....
View attachment 2480505

I'm currently modifying our coops inside area for our silkies.... and will be updating with some good framing images that you can use as a brainstorming aid to come up with your solution. your basically making a box with an inside skeleton and sitting it on a set of saw horses that you have trimmed the legs to have the box equal to the original coops floor.

heres what I used to find saw horse details

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=saw+horse&t=ffsb&atb=v219-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

a sheet of plywood can be $12-35 (depending on the thickness you want. I would stay 1/4" or thicker. probably 3-4 of the 2"x2"x8' or 2"x3"x8' and a single 2"x4"x8' = I'd expect $10-15 for all for these boards

a box of carpendry screws ~1 5/8" long be extra careful so they don't poke thru the wood into the air space that could scratch or poke a hen to bleed.

then the cost of wood to make the saw horses... FYI there is a page that shows how to make pare of horses out of a used pallet! very solid and simple design too!


so, listen to the wisdom of the others who have walked this path before us and go forth and have fun!

Thank you very much for this post, awesome idea and inspiration. I will definitely think about it!

 

[Orpingtons Mom]

Look on amazon. They have a bunch of them that a) might work for your setup, or b) explain how it works... c) might give you a hint on what to do.

Pretty feeble response, actually, but I thought it might be pretty easy for you to see.

Oh, and this might help too:

 

[VlkStinu]

Could be because they are battery birds and/or could be because the roosts are too small in size to be comfortable.

I doubt curtains would work.
Something more solid is the way to keep them from sleeping in the nests.

Oh, I meant in regards to that egg-eating hen. The article said that the curtains keep the nests dark and since the hens can't see the eggs, they don't peck at them. Seems like something worth trying.

 

[Glothomsen]

I have a hen that likes to eat eggs. She is also lowest in the pecking order. I have a small cage kennel (18x24x18) that i set in the coop in the evening and put her in until all eggs have been collected the next day. She then roams the rest of the day with the rest of the flock.

 

[RoosterCruiser72]

Unfortunately if shes already to the point of waiting on other hens to lay so she can eat their eggs she is too far gone. She wont stop. It happens sometimes. Just a rouge chicken. Make chicken soup out of her.

 

[VlkStinu]

What exactly are you feeding them?

I have a complex pre-made mix from a local supplier (that should have everything, from protein, to calcium, vitamins, minerals etc.), but these winter days I also make mix of my own from various seeds, grinded corn, fish powder, calcium grit, mix of vitamins and minerals and beer/brewer yeasts.

 

[VlkStinu]

Well, we have much experience looking at prefab coops, and know from that long experience that the population claims of coop manufacturers are often greatly exaggerated.
But, yes, if you could provide dimensions, that would be great.

Roost bars are at least 2"(5cm) wide, and 12"(30cm) from the walls, and 18"(46cm) between roosts?

Sleeping in the nests is a sure sign that the roosts/spacings are inadequate.

Yes, they are, except the size between them is less than that, unfortunately. I would say they are about 30 cm apart. In any case, none of the hens is using them at all, so I wouldn't expect that sleeping in nests is a sign of inadequate roosts. They are just not used to roosting (perhaps due to their history as ex-battery hens) and when the nights were cold and they had no feathers, they just got used to getting all together in the nests as I believe it made them warmer.

 

[VlkStinu]

How about nest box curtains, couldn't that be an easy and effective solution to this?