One of my hens seems to be commandeering the laying box in the coop so she can eat the eggs...

[robotichickens]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the whole flock business - when I was a kid, we had varying levels of chickens until we only had one left, and that was quite a while ago. Living in Sydney, Australia. Back in November 2014, we got five more chicks in and my dad resurrected the coop in the corner of our yard. They've grown up well, very healthy and sociable, and most of them are now laying eggs.

My dad installed a laying box (note: just ONE, and the chickens seem content to take turns, although we are looking into creating a few more, if only because one of the hens is simply too massive to fit), which is a plastic contraption with a fold down grill they can sit on, and the eggs roll out into a tray once they've been laid.




I let the chickens out in the morning and they roam the backyard until sunset, when we give them a tray of kitchen scraps and put them in for the night. They have a roosting bar under shelter, which is right above the nesting box. This afternoon, just after midday, I checked the coop and found one of my hens crouched in the box. I assumed she was laying, so I left her alone. When I came back out to put them to bed, she was still in there, but I couldn't see her head. I'm not going to lie, I thought she'd died on an egg, like our last lone chicken, but on closer inspection, I found that she'd snaked her head through the egg-hole and had pecked the eggshells from the two eggs that were in the tray, and the eggs had leaked out!

We had an egg-eating incident a few weeks ago when they were all in the coop together and presumably bored, they'd eaten all the food in their tray and they basically descended on the only egg in the run, and when my dad found them only the shell was left, and then only bits of it.

We haven't had any more instances of it, until today. Optimus Prime (that's the hen in the box) refused to come out, even though she wasn't laying (she'd pecked her own egg open), and she growled at me. It didn't sound like a chicken sound at all. She seemed oddly placid as well, like she was drunk, which is unusual particularly for her, since she's practically top dog and bullies the loner chicken of the flock. She hadn't even eaten most of the eggs - they'd broken and then run down to the front of the tray, and then she couldn't reach her head far enough.

I had a bit of a cry, because I'm very attached to my chickens (they're more like pets to me). I've heard that culling an egg-eater is the best way to solve the problem, but right now we don't know if she's the only one doing it, and it's also impossible to remove the eggs during the day when everyone is at work or school. The inaccessibility of the tray with the eggs has worked until today.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips about dealing with this? I've heard about the trick with the golf balls, eggs filled with detergent, etc. It's normally not even an issue, as the chickens tend to either lay in the box and then bugger off, or lay in the garden in known places that we can collect later. When they lay outside the coop, none of the others bother the egg.

This has never happened before, and I'm worried and concerned, any help would be marvelous. Although, if you're just going to tell me to kill her, save your breath and take your negativity somewhere else. That's the last option.

 

[nchls school]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the whole flock business - when I was a kid, we had varying levels of chickens until we only had one left, and that was quite a while ago. Living in Sydney, Australia. Back in November 2014, we got five more chicks in and my dad resurrected the coop in the corner of our yard. They've grown up well, very healthy and sociable, and most of them are now laying eggs. My dad installed a laying box (note: just ONE, and the chickens seem content to take turns, although we are looking into creating a few more, if only because one of the hens is simply too massive to fit), which is a plastic contraption with a fold down grill they can sit on, and the eggs roll out into a tray once they've been laid. I let the chickens out in the morning and they roam the backyard until sunset, when we give them a tray of kitchen scraps and put them in for the night. They have a roosting bar under shelter, which is right above the nesting box. This afternoon, just after midday, I checked the coop and found one of my hens crouched in the box. I assumed she was laying, so I left her alone. When I came back out to put them to bed, she was still in there, but I couldn't see her head. I'm not going to lie, I thought she'd died on an egg, like our last lone chicken, but on closer inspection, I found that she'd snaked her head through the egg-hole and had pecked the eggshells from the two eggs that were in the tray, and the eggs had leaked out! We had an egg-eating incident a few weeks ago when they were all in the coop together and presumably bored, they'd eaten all the food in their tray and they basically descended on the only egg in the run, and when my dad found them only the shell was left, and then only bits of it. We haven't had any more instances of it, until today. Optimus Prime (that's the hen in the box) refused to come out, even though she wasn't laying (she'd pecked her own egg open), and she growled at me. It didn't sound like a chicken sound at all. She seemed oddly placid as well, like she was drunk, which is unusual particularly for her, since she's practically top dog and bullies the loner chicken of the flock. She hadn't even eaten most of the eggs - they'd broken and then run down to the front of the tray, and then she couldn't reach her head far enough. I had a bit of a cry, because I'm very attached to my chickens (they're more like pets to me). I've heard that culling an egg-eater is the best way to solve the problem, but right now we don't know if she's the only one doing it, and it's also impossible to remove the eggs during the day when everyone is at work or school. The inaccessibility of the tray with the eggs has worked until today. I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips about dealing with this? I've heard about the trick with the golf balls, eggs filled with detergent, etc. It's normally not even an issue, as the chickens tend to either lay in the box and then bugger off, or lay in the garden in known places that we can collect later. When they lay outside the coop, none of the others bother the egg. This has never happened before, and I'm worried and concerned, any help would be marvelous. Although, if you're just going to tell me to kill her, save your breath and take your negativity somewhere else. That's the last option.

Is Optimus Prime still in the nest box? From your description it sounds like this hen may be broody; an egg-eating broody hen. If so try giving her "eggs" to brood that she can not break. In the past I have taken real eggs, blown out the contents, and filled them with plaster. If she can not break the eggs she may give up on it and all will be well. If she is still laying you might try putting her in a cage with a slopping bottom so the eggs she lays roll out of her reach. And still give her an unbreakable egg with the hopes she will tire of trying to break it. I do not think a golf ball would work as the unbreakable egg.