Is this a taboo????

[Grand-hen-ma]

Yesterday my husband was gathering eggs and accidently dropped one. It broke and he said my girls went wild. They all tried to eat the egg and yolk, not the shell. Is it ok to scramble some eggs once in a while and feed it to the girls or will that encourage them to eat their eggs?

Also, here in Florida it is very hot and humid. I have my girls under a huge tree. Part of their home is in the shade and the other part in the sun. There is plenty of ventalation but I see some of my girls breathing with their mouths open. Do I need to add a fan to help cool them off? They have plenty of fresh water.

Thanks for any help.
Colette

 

[chicks4kids]

I always scramble eggs and feed them back to my chickens......they love it! And it's especially nice to be able to do that when you have an over abundance of eggs. This is an excellent way to get rid of them and give wonderful protein to your chickens.

They should be fine breathing with their mouths open....it just means that they're hot. You may even see them walking around with their wings "out". A fan would be nice for them if you can.

 

[CoopCrazy]

I feed all my birds excess eggs..Just make sure youi scramble them first...

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

scrambled eggs are absolutely fine, most people on here feed their chickens scrambled eggs for added protein boost. Don't give them raw eggs though, that will encourage them to be egg eaters though. Also your used egg shells (after you've cracked and cooked 'em) stick them in the oven to dry them out, crush them up and mix it in their feed, this will add extra calcium and grit to their diets for free.

 

[debo4702]

We feed our chicks extra eggs too no problems with that.

As for the heat it's hot and humid here too so we have been putting bags of ice in the water or a frozen milk jug (full of water ) in the water. We use 5 gallon buckets attached to automatic waters and it keeps the water cool which seems to help alot. If you can run a fan with a mist on the really hot days, like today thats good too. Good luck and stay cool!

 

[gritsar]

I agree with the others. I feed excess eggs back to my girls, scrambled. Chickens don't have the brain capacity to associate those yummy scrambled eggs with the things they leave in their nestboxes; they don't look the same.
With our heat index reaching 100 or higher each day lately I am running the fans in my coop - one to cool the general coop area, one that blows on the nestboxes. Be aware that when you first install fans the chickens may be afraid of them first. Chickens don't like anything new to them.
I also avoid doing anything - feeding treats, moving things around - that will stir them up during the heat of the day. Also, I use electrolytes in their water through most of June, July and August. The frozen water jugs and plenty of fresh water.

 

[Grand-hen-ma]

Thank you everyone for your help. Everyone on BYC is so helpful. I'm really thankful I found BYC!

Thanks again all.
Colette