Hens Eating Eggs

[duluthralphie]

okay, thanks. a friend of mine has chickens and she feeds oyster shells but her hens are devout egg eaters. she feeds barley, wheat, and peas but no layer feed. also the pump house the carpenter that built it installed vents and made it chicken-friendly
that's fine, i don't really care if you use F or C but i always use C. doesn't matter though
thanks!

Cool.. either way below zero is cold!

Interesting problem. Any idea which hen breaks the egg?

How many chickens do you have? Is it feasible to pull a hen out and sent her to isolation for a day or two and see if the problem ends?

A chicky Jail! lol

 

[spitfirecream15]

yes, below zero either F or C is cold!
I think my rooster is the instigator, he's the one who started eating eggs first. And then maybe my leghorn runt. I don't think my bantie hens are eating eggs, at least they weren't for a while. I have 5 Leghorns and 2 bantie hens, and one bantie roo. I have thought about taking my roo out anyway, he froze his comb when he went out about a week ago and the hens were picking at it, it was bleeding and just a yucky mess, but I don't really have any where to put him. Their old coop is not insulated and there's not heat there so I can't put him there... i'm just thinking where else I might put him. or any other instigators. their old chicken coop would be jail indeed. but i can't put them there it would be too cold. but i will look into it and see what i can do.
thanks!

 

[duluthralphie]

yes, below zero either F or C is cold!
I think my rooster is the instigator, he's the one who started eating eggs first. And then maybe my leghorn runt. I don't think my bantie hens are eating eggs, at least they weren't for a while. I have 5 Leghorns and 2 bantie hens, and one bantie roo. I have thought about taking my roo out anyway, he froze his comb when he went out about a week ago and the hens were picking at it, it was bleeding and just a yucky mess, but I don't really have any where to put him. Their old coop is not insulated and there's not heat there so I can't put him there... i'm just thinking where else I might put him. or any other instigators. their old chicken coop would be jail indeed. but i can't put them there it would be too cold. but i will look into it and see what i can do.
thanks!

I know many on here use no heat at all.

I had a barred rock that moved back to her old coop last week when we had 15 below (f) for a few nights and did fine. I use no heat in my coop. My guineas and turkeys stay out most the time, ( the turkeys refuse to go in, except for 2).

If you put your suspects in the coop with a wide roost so the toes do not freeze they should be fine in the cold. My coop is not insulated at all. I have open soffits and vent holes in the roost to keep the moisture down. All my coop does is cut the wind for the birds.

I have 4 cx's that live in a small brooder just nesting in wood chips on the ground. They do fine also. But I did allow my birds to become acclimatized by never giving them supplement heat.

 

[spitfirecream15]

okay. i'll think about it.

kind of worried about my little roo, his comb is awful and i dont want it to get any worse. butthanks for letting me know!

 

[enola]

Roll away nests will stop this problem.

 

[spitfirecream15]

Thanks! I'll try that. I'm getting new nest boxes so maybe that'll help.

 

[duluthralphie]

Roll away nests will stop this problem.

good idea, I never thought of them!

I should make some to keep the eggs cleaner!

 

[spitfirecream15]

yeah, my pet peeve is dirty eggs. I HATE cleaning eggs, espcially the really mucky ones.

 

[duluthralphie]

yeah, my pet peeve is dirty eggs. I HATE cleaning eggs, espcially the really mucky ones.

I actually like cleaning eggs.

It reminds me of my Grandma and how 55+ years ago we would gather eggs and then sit and sand them for hours. When she got a couple cases we went to town and sold them to the store. A simpler easier time when anyone could sell eggs to the store. Now we would probably go to jail along with the store owner. It is amazing we all survived such a terrible dirty lifestyle!

 

[enola]

I had to start using a roll away nest because i had a rooster who developed a taste for eggs.......