She's an egg eater

[feather13]

Hi! We have thirteen pullets and hens (who had stopped laying and started again after we got chicks) that roost in the run. Every morning one of the Black Sex Links or RIRs lays an egg right under where they roost. This wasn't a problem until someone started eating this egg. It's been three days in a row. She lays it first thing in the morning before I get down to the coop. There are three egg boxes inside the coop she could use.

Questions:

1) How can I stop this?
2) How early do chickens lay eggs in the morning (I could always wake up early and gather it before it's eaten)?
3) Do we have enough egg boxes? At first, there were only eleven laying pullets, but the two older hens started again. The egg boxes are in our coop, which is kind of small. Because we live in southern California, the chickens generally roost and hang out in the large, covered run or free range. So if I don't have enough egg boxes, could I add some in the run? We've never had them in the run and I'm worried they wouldn't lay there.

Thanks for reading this and for your time!

 

[aart]

Is it a pullet egg on the ground?
How long have you had the younger birds?
Are the other birds maybe keeping this one from going into the coop to lay?
That's most likely, IMO.
Do you have fake eggs in the nests?
Just how mall is your coop?
Dimensions and pics of coop and run is always helpful.

 

[IttyBittyBirdy]

1. What to do:

• Check diet, is there enough calcium? What kind of food?
• Try a ceramic egg, I used a golf ball.

2. In my experience, my hens are done laying by about noon but I've got a straggler who lays as late as 3pm. So, this might work. If you're able, you can listen to their egg song. I don't hear very well and I only know I have a straggler because I've been out while she laid/sang.

3. The general rule is 1 box per 4/5 hens, but I've got a couple girls who insist on using the same box all together despite more than enough egg boxes. Support group egg laying, I suppose.

• Are they adequately "furnished" with bedding and of good size?

 

[aart]

We are feeding both regular pellets from our local feed store (I don't know the brand) and Scratch and Peck layer feed mixed together.

Do you know the protein and calcium percentages of the local stuff?
In the US it has to be put on a tag on the bag.
What shape are both feeds....crumbles, pellets, or cracked grains?

 

[IttyBittyBirdy]

Thanks for your reply! We are feeding both regular pellets from our local feed store (I don't know the brand) and Scratch and Peck layer feed mixed together. Recently I fed the chickens some boiled eggs and shells smashed up very finely and mixed in with their feed. Could this perhaps be the culprit?

We now have 12 laying hens (we had to rehome one yesterday because she was eating the neighbor's marijuana plants lol) and 3 egg boxes in the coop, so maybe we need to add one. They fight over their favorite ones and sometimes I find two crowded into a box, like your hens. We also have a Phoenix that goes broody a lot and hogs a box until we "break" her (much more gently than it sounds). Our three boxes are good size and have nesting pads.

I think we might try another nesting box and see how that goes.

What @aart said, what are the percentages?
I don't think the crushed boiled eggs had anything to do with it, mine get them all the time as a snack.

Sorry about your chicken and her expensive hobby, lol. Hopefully none of the others get into that stuff.

What do you mean by "nesting pads"?

 

[feather13]

What @aart said, what are the percentages?
I don't think the crushed boiled eggs had anything to do with it, mine get them all the time as a snack.

Sorry about your chicken and her expensive hobby, lol. Hopefully none of the others get into that stuff.

What do you mean by "nesting pads"?

These are the nesting pads I found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CAVMIK2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. They are basically wood shavings since our coop and run floors are sand and I didn't think sand would be an appealing thing to put in the nests.

LOL.. we were sad to get rid of our Fayoumi with the drug habit. None of the other pullets have seemed interested in jumping into that particular neighbor's yard .

@aart and @IttyBittyBirdy : The Scratch and Peck feed is cracked grains and I mix it with pellets. They don't seem to prefer one or the other. I use a Rent-A-Coop feeder and there's not a lot of mess on the ground. I sometimes feed them the Scratch and Peck on its own mixed with water and vegetables/fruit. Unfortunately, I put the bags of food into a big container with a screw on lid, so don't have the calcium and protein percentages. I'm getting more feed this week, so will post the ingredients then.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

This worked for me:
Take an egg and make a small hole in either end. Blow out the insides so you have an empty shell. Glue one of the hole closed. Using a syringe fill the other end with mustard then seal the egg and sneak it into a nesting box. Chickens hate mustard for some reason. Anyways my egg eater caught on pretty quickly and stopped. Best of luck

 

[feather13]

1. What to do:

• Check diet, is there enough calcium? What kind of food?
• Try a ceramic egg, I used a golf ball.

2. In my experience, my hens are done laying by about noon but I've got a straggler who lays as late as 3pm. So, this might work. If you're able, you can listen to their egg song. I don't hear very well and I only know I have a straggler because I've been out while she laid/sang.

3. The general rule is 1 box per 4/5 hens, but I've got a couple girls who insist on using the same box all together despite more than enough egg boxes. Support group egg laying, I suppose.

• Are they adequately "furnished" with bedding and of good size?

Thanks for your reply! We are feeding both regular pellets from our local feed store (I don't know the brand) and Scratch and Peck layer feed mixed together. Recently I fed the chickens some boiled eggs and shells smashed up very finely and mixed in with their feed. Could this perhaps be the culprit?

We now have 12 laying hens (we had to rehome one yesterday because she was eating the neighbor's marijuana plants lol) and 3 egg boxes in the coop, so maybe we need to add one. They fight over their favorite ones and sometimes I find two crowded into a box, like your hens. We also have a Phoenix that goes broody a lot and hogs a box until we "break" her (much more gently than it sounds). Our three boxes are good size and have nesting pads.

I think we might try another nesting box and see how that goes.

 

[feather13]

Is it a pullet egg on the ground?
How long have you had the younger birds?
Are the other birds maybe keeping this one from going into the coop to lay?
That's most likely, IMO.
Do you have fake eggs in the nests?
Just how mall is your coop?
Dimensions and pics of coop and run is always helpful.

Thanks for your reply! Yes, the random pullet egg is on the ground (right under where they roost... gross). All the rest lay in the egg boxes.

The pullets are 10 months old. I don't think the others are keeping her out of the coop. I'm pretty sure it's our RIR since I've never seen her in the egg box area before. She isn't bullied by the other chickens.

I don't have fake eggs in the nest. Sometimes I'll leave on in to lure them into the box they like least, but I'm afraid to leave fake eggs in the box because we have a Phoenix who goes broody at the drop of a hat.

Our coop is roughly 5 ft height, 5 ft length, 4 ft tall. Our run area (partially roofed and fully covered in hardware cloth) is really big. I would say the run area is at least 12 x 12 with a citrus tree and lots of roosting/hiding spaces. Because we live in southern California, the chickens only use the coop for egg laying. Most of the year it's too hot to be in the coop even though one entire side is open.

 

[cherrynberry]

1. What to do:

• Check diet, is there enough calcium? What kind of food?
• Try a ceramic egg, I used a golf ball.

2. In my experience, my hens are done laying by about noon but I've got a straggler who lays as late as 3pm. So, this might work. If you're able, you can listen to their egg song. I don't hear very well and I only know I have a straggler because I've been out while she laid/sang.

3. The general rule is 1 box per 4/5 hens, but I've got a couple girls who insist on using the same box all together despite more than enough egg boxes. Support group egg laying, I suppose.

• Are they adequately "furnished" with bedding and of good size?

Agree with this post. Fake eggs help.