Pecking eggs

[donnanadtom]

We have 7 RIR's and 1 started laying eggs about 2 weeks ago, she pecks a small hole in every one she lays. We are feeding them laying crumbles with oyster shell mixed in. What could be the problem? We have two others that started laying in the past week and they do not peck the eggs.

 

[Judy]

My personal theory is they think it is a chick hatching and want to help it; I have seen broodies do this with hatching chicks.

Whatever the reason, you need to try to stop it. This is one good reason for golf balls in nests -- they won't try very many times to peck golf balls, so hopefully they will give up.

 

[Cat Water]

Is she just pecking a hole in it, or is she eating it? If she is eating it, that could be very bad.

 

[deannd]

I have the same problem. I have 10 broody hens so I filled their boxes with fertile eggs. One of my non-broody leghorns in squeezing into the boxes with the girls and picking at their eggs and cracking them. I finally took all the eggs (30) out of the nests and put them in the incubator and filled the boxes with golf balls. I am hoping the girls will stay broody long enough for the eggs to hatch so I can stick the chicks under them when the hatch.

 

[donnanadtom]

She just pecks a tiny hole and then leaves it, it doesn't even break the inner membrane. Any ideas of how to stop this?

 

[jpmrmw]

My Silver Lakenvelder has done the same thing twice now . She lays an egg , pecks a tiny round hole in the end about the size of a BB, without breaking the inner membrane. She leaves the round shell piece she has pecked out alone. Too strange.

 

[suki'smom]

Can we see a photo of the egg? Have you seen her pecking it? I got eggs for the longest time with a perfectly round beak sized crack in it, so I was convinced that I had egg eaters. I found out (accidentally) that when an egg drops a short distance (like when she lays it) onto another egg or something similarily hard, it leaves a perfecly round crack that doesn't break the membrane and that looks like a chicken pecked it...Just my input

 

[BOrion]

I have been finding the same thing. Tiny hole in my eggs, I get about two or three a week like that. Tiny hole, BB size, egg is not eaten. I have fake eggs in all the nests. Any other ideas? Maybe it not a big deal?

 

[VintageLilFarm]

I read this thread because I've had this happen twice in the past week. I'm wondering if new layers are ever just curious? Also the info above about it getting dropped is interesting. How far does an egg usually drop when it is laid? Maybe it's just new layers not knowing what to do yet?

 

[BOrion]

I'm still finding little holes. My chicken coop and run is like Fort Knox, so I know it's not another critter. My hens have been laying for 5or 6 months.