Nesting Box (Broken Eggs)

[dillondonnelly1]

Hello, everyone!

I love my chickens, but sometimes I question what goes on inside their tiny little heads. I have been trying to figure out how to get them to lay eggs in their nesting boxes without them cracking. I tried using straw and shavings multiple times, but they like to kick it out. I also tried that drawer liner stuff, and they must've really kicked around, because I found a broken egg, and two other eggs in another nesting box( Must not have liked the feeling of it haha).

If anyone has any advice at all, it would be greatly appreciated.




Thank you!

 

[Hokum Coco]

I tried using straw and shavings multiple times, but they like to kick it out. I also tried that drawer liner stuff, and they must've really kicked around, because I found a broken egg, and two other eggs in another nesting box( Must not have liked the feeling of it haha).
If anyone has any advice at all, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

I would increase the height of the retaining board across the front of your nest box. If all else fails convert to a roll away egg nest box.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, a higher lip could help keep them from kicking the bedding out. It depends on what your nests look like. I use lips 5 to 6 inches high.

Have you checked inside the nest to see if you have nails or screws sticking through that form sharp points? Is there anything that could make it easy to break the eggs? When the hen lays the egg she actually stands up so the egg falls a bit when laid.

How thick are your egg shells? It’s not that unusual for a pullet just starting to lay to lay a thin-shelled or even shell-less egg. Sometimes it takes a while for a pullet to get the kinks out of her internal egg making factory. But it’s not normal for all your hens to do that. When I have a problem I try to determine if it is a flock problem or an individual chicken problem. This sounds like a flock problem, but is it really?

Hens walk right on the eggs in the nest. They do not watch where they step. If the shells are thin they can easily break. If all your hens are laying thin-shelled eggs you probably need to offer oyster shell on the side to see if that helps if you are not already doing so. Occasionally you will get a hen that does not process the calcium properly so she lays thin-shelled eggs when all the others are doing fine.

There could be something else going on but these are the most likely to me. Please give us an update.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I have found through experience that as some hens age (3 or 4 years old) no amount of calcium or change of feed can help thin egg shells.

 

[dillondonnelly1]

Yes, a higher lip could help keep them from kicking the bedding out. It depends on what your nests look like. I use lips 5 to 6 inches high.

Have you checked inside the nest to see if you have nails or screws sticking through that form sharp points? Is there anything that could make it easy to break the eggs? When the hen lays the egg she actually stands up so the egg falls a bit when laid.

How thick are your egg shells? It’s not that unusual for a pullet just starting to lay to lay a thin-shelled or even shell-less egg. Sometimes it takes a while for a pullet to get the kinks out of her internal egg making factory. But it’s not normal for all your hens to do that. When I have a problem I try to determine if it is a flock problem or an individual chicken problem. This sounds like a flock problem, but is it really?

Hens walk right on the eggs in the nest. They do not watch where they step. If the shells are thin they can easily break. If all your hens are laying thin-shelled eggs you probably need to offer oyster shell on the side to see if that helps if you are not already doing so. Occasionally you will get a hen that does not process the calcium properly so she lays thin-shelled eggs when all the others are doing fine.

There could be something else going on but these are the most likely to me. Please give us an update.

Thank you for all of your insight! I never considered that one hen may be the cause of the problem. I just assumed that it was divided between all of my chickens. But from what I can tell, the egg shells are pretty strong, and not thin. They have grit mixed in with their feed, so their calcium levels should be normal. I am going to watch more closely over the next few days whenever I hear a hen laying an egg, and see if it's a hen-specific problem.

 

[11mini]

Grit is not the same as oyster shell. I provide both grit and oyster shell.