Hens eating eggs - this is a long story.

[alexanye]

I have 3 flocks of chickens, 1 of which has been giving me problems. We have been working on them, things have been improving but I have hit a weird point and I am not sure what to do next. My question is, can the hens in question just be split between different flocks, or should they be housed alone. I can build them each little isolation coops if it is worth it. The other option is just cull both and fill their spots with new hens.

So the story. The hens in question used to be 100% free range, but as it goes we slowly lost our flock to predators. They had a coop, they used it at first but it wasn't great. I think something was getting in at night so they started straight up refusing yo go in and sleeping other places. They felt safer so we let them until we could build them better coops. Fast forward to me getting coops built and then catching the 2 remaining free range hens and adding them in with a flock. Things went well, until we added the rooster. The rooster in question is a complete jerk. He is just angry all the time and I am positive he is why the egg eating started. We took him out and he is going to be culled soon, and I have been working with the hens. They have slowed wayyyy down on the egg eating but they didn't completely stop until I removed one of the old hens. While she was separated she didn't eat her eggs, so I put her back in and took the other older hen out and same thing, she isn't eating her eggs either. The younger 3 hens only join in on the eggs eating, they don't start it so if the older 2 need to be kept separately the other 3 will join the flock with my favorite rooster Teddy. He is so kind to everyone and I just love him.

Anyway, what would you do about these hens? Is it possible that these 2 just don't like each other? Or are they only eating the other chickens eggs because they are old? I read somewhere that happens sometimes. I have always kept my flocks pretty stress free and I haven't had much of an issue with eating eggs. Only if one is accidentally broken and they need to clean it up so this is new to me. I just want happy productive chickens.

 

[citymeetscountry]

No advice, following. My 4 girls have been eating theirs as well. It was occasional if one broke but now it’s consistent and they’re breaking and eating them. They have oyster shell and I put the ceramic eggs back (when we went on vacay 2 months ago our house sitter accidentally collected the fake eggs too). With only 4 girls I’m lucky to salvage 1-2 eggs a day before they eat them, some days it’s 0. I have even started “stalking” the nest box when I know someone is in it.

 

[alexanye]

No advice, following. My 4 girls have been eating theirs as well. It was occasional if one broke but now it’s consistent and they’re breaking and eating them. They have oyster shell and I put the ceramic eggs back (when we went on vacay 2 months ago our house sitter accidentally collected the fake eggs too). With only 4 girls I’m lucky to salvage 1-2 eggs a day before they eat them, some days it’s 0. I have even started “stalking” the nest box when I know someone is in it.

I might be able to help some, how do you keep them and what is their regular diet?

Are they in a coop, or a tractor and do they get fresh greens?

 

[nuthatched]

It could be lacking protein or too tight quarters, what do you feed? blow out an egg, fill with yellow dish soap ( not mustard, hens enjoy it) and replace.

 

[alexanye]

It could be lacking protein or too tight quarters, what do you feed? blow out an egg, fill with yellow dish soap ( not mustard, hens enjoy it) and replace.

They get a 3/1 mix of (3)Purina omega layer pellets and (1) flock partygarden grains, as well as any sprouted seeds and fresh greens they can get, they definitely get enough protein. I could see the older 2 thinking quarters are too tight after free ranging for a while but they have to get over it. I can't let them free range again, the hawks leave my guineas alone but not the chickens. The guineas will fight harder though.

I did add golf balls, I had some here but I can get fake ones of I need to. Blowing out eggs doesn't sound fun

They are kept in tractors that are 4 feet wide, 4 feet tall, and 6 feet long with a roof like you'd see on a house, they have 3 levels to jump between. I also move them onto fresh grass at least once a day, depending on how much of it they eat.

 

[alexanye]

This flock has been getting extra special treatment in the hopes I can stop them eating eggs instead of culling.

 

[alexanye]

I do not know is this makes a difference, all the birds came from tractor supply. The young ones are sapphire gems, the older 2 one is a barred Plymouth rock the other is a longhorn.

 

[alexanye]

When I separated the hens, they went into a medium sized dog crate. Much much smaller than their coops.

 

[nuthatched]

They get a 3/1 mix of (3)Purina omega layer pellets and (1) flock partygarden grains, as well as any sprouted seeds and fresh greens they can get, they definitely get enough protein

No, not really. Cut out the flockparty completely, too much fat and carbs, that limits the absorbing if nutrients.. Think out it as cheetos. limit the sprouted grains to maybe twice a week. Switch to Flock Raiser or chick feed with oyster shell in a seperate dish. Layer feed can be good but it appears that your hens need more protein, most of today's birds do since layer feed had the absolute bare minimum of protein needed for laying hens. it was developed over 50 years ago for egg farm birds that are culled at 2 years old, it's not important for them to live long or healthy.

I did add golf balls, I had some here but I can get fake ones of I need to. Blowing out eggs doesn't sound fun

It might be necessary.

I do not know is this makes a difference, all the birds came from tractor supply. The young ones are sapphire gems, the older 2 one is a barred Plymouth rock the other is a longhorn.

Makes no difference where they're from, but the leghorn definitely needs more protein.

 

[alexanye]

Ok, but why did they stop when one hen was removed? I am not trying to argue, I'm trying to rationalize this and its just not making sense for a deficiency. It makes more sense for stress.

When the rooster was in with them, they got mixed that had flock raiser in it and I did keep doing that for several weeks after he was removed. That was 2layer/1flock raiser/1seed mix. That is what my other 2 coops with roos eat as well. No egg eating from them. This was started after the egg eating, before it was just a few scoops of each and no real ratio feed type, and occasionally some seeds and other treats.

They significantly slowed down on eating eggs when I added the seeds and more so with the sprouts. I did stop mixing in the flock raiser around this time as well. I can add that back in. Sunflower sprouts are a big one I have been using and they are high in protein. I do make sure to look into the seeds and what they add to their diet before and after sprouting so I know when they are the most nutritional. I don't want to stop doing something that has been helping. I went from getting 1-2 eggs a day if I was lucky to getting 4 from the 5 birds, that is a pretty big differences. That didn't happen right after taking the roo out, it happened after I added to their regular feed and now that one of the older 2 hens - doesn't seem to matter which one - was removed from the coop I am getting 5 eggs a day from the 5 birds.

I am also worried about being able to get feed, it has been out of stock a lot lately so if they can't have supplemented feed maybe it's just time to cull. All of my other chickens are perfectly happy and healthy with this, they eat less of the feed mix, they don't eat their eggs, and they quality of the eggs is incredible. I mean like absolutely perfect with the most beautiful shells and yolks I have ever seen in my life. Even the hens who are eating eggs, when I get theirs they are no different than any of the other except the leghorn lays white and the rest lay brown. I have looked through the egg quality problem post a few times now to make sure the eggs didn't have anything weird with them that I hadn't noticed. They all lay eggs with nice hard shells, rich tight yolks, the whites are beautiful too.

I did feed only pellets or crumbles for a while, but things have changed a lot lately with the supply chain issues and the general state of the world. I need to know I can still feed my flock if commercial food is unavailable.