- May 18, 2013
- 44
- 1
- 24
Out of my 9 hens... most of them started laying a week ago, Yay! Firstly, how often before they lay eggs consistently? One day I had 5 eggs, but most days I get 1 or 2 or none at all.
Then, I have a hen that appears to lay off the roost. 3 mornings in a row I found the shell of a brittle egg under the roost with the insides eaten. At least one of my BSL is laying it and possibly the one who is eating it as well. I'm at a loss how to fix this??? I did manage to collect her egg today though. I have oyster shells available. I have been checking the coop around 6:30 and every morning there's an egg under the roost, even though they usually beat me to it. Which makes me wonder... I thought they laid every 25 hours which would leave it an hour later daily, no?
Then today.... I was in the garden and heard laying songs, so within minutes, I went to find 2 eggs... one with a hole pecked in it (still warm). Noticed a BSL over there while I was walking in.. but they were all fairly close. So ugh!
I had a make shift nesting box which my NHRs prefer to lay next to rather than in, my leghorns lay in the back corner with the exception of the random egg in the "common" area and then of course the BSL chooses to just oops it off the roost. Today I put together a better 'roll out' box hoping for safe eggs, though I am not sure they will use it since its foreign to them. I'm still waiting for my husband to build me actual nesting boxes... but is there anything else I can do to eliminate some of my problems? I can't even tell for sure which chicken is eating eggs because she/they are clean about it.
Then, I have a hen that appears to lay off the roost. 3 mornings in a row I found the shell of a brittle egg under the roost with the insides eaten. At least one of my BSL is laying it and possibly the one who is eating it as well. I'm at a loss how to fix this??? I did manage to collect her egg today though. I have oyster shells available. I have been checking the coop around 6:30 and every morning there's an egg under the roost, even though they usually beat me to it. Which makes me wonder... I thought they laid every 25 hours which would leave it an hour later daily, no?
Then today.... I was in the garden and heard laying songs, so within minutes, I went to find 2 eggs... one with a hole pecked in it (still warm). Noticed a BSL over there while I was walking in.. but they were all fairly close. So ugh!
I had a make shift nesting box which my NHRs prefer to lay next to rather than in, my leghorns lay in the back corner with the exception of the random egg in the "common" area and then of course the BSL chooses to just oops it off the roost. Today I put together a better 'roll out' box hoping for safe eggs, though I am not sure they will use it since its foreign to them. I'm still waiting for my husband to build me actual nesting boxes... but is there anything else I can do to eliminate some of my problems? I can't even tell for sure which chicken is eating eggs because she/they are clean about it.