Soft shelled egg eaters!

[BestLilHenhouse]

I was having trouble figuring which one of my 8 was the culprit, and if they were really eating them on purpose vs eating eggs that broke.

I put an egg in as bait and stood where I could hear what was happening. In about 30 seconds one of my girls jumped right up and I could hear her hitting that egg as hard as she could.

I separated her out and haven't lost an egg since. Now to try the painless peepers. Mom said my dad used to trim their beaks. I'm not about that life unless as a last resort.

 

[jherrera59]

I never minded if my chickens ate a soft shell egg. We only had them when the hens first came into laying. We've never had an egg eater problem even if though they ate a few soft shell eggs. My quail have done the same thing lately as they are just coming into laying now. A few soft shells were eaten, but no hard shells were damaged.

I will add, be sure to provide a calcium supplement if you are getting soft shells. We just put microwave the egg shells and then blend them to crush them finely, and then we give that to the birds from time to time. I stock pile the crushed egg shells in an old ice tea mix can/container until we need them.

Yeah I don’t mind them eating them either. It was just the way they did it lol. They’re all new layers and they haven’t eaten any hard shelled eggs so thankfully I don’t think we have any egg eaters! Whew! I’ve been giving them oyster and egg shells and they’re eating them so hopefully the soft shells will resolve over time. I did find 2 soft shells on the poop board this morning and one had some egg white in it still so they’re not exactly pouncing on it like I saw them do the other day! Hahah Thanks for the info!

 

[jherrera59]

I was having trouble figuring which one of my 8 was the culprit, and if they were really eating them on purpose vs eating eggs that broke.

I put an egg in as bait and stood where I could hear what was happening. In about 30 seconds one of my girls jumped right up and I could hear her hitting that egg as hard as she could.

I separated her out and haven't lost an egg since. Now to try the painless peepers. Mom said my dad used to trim their beaks. I'm not about that life unless as a last resort.

Wow! I don’t think we have any hard shelled eaters after all Glad you found the culprit!

 

[aart]

I did find 2 soft shells on the poop board this morning and one had some egg white in it still so they’re not exactly pouncing on it like I saw them do the other day!

Better on the poop board, or anywhere besides the nests.
Softies with new layers is pretty common.

 

[BReeder!]

Yeah I don’t mind them eating them either. It was just the way they did it lol. They’re all new layers and they haven’t eaten any hard shelled eggs so thankfully I don’t think we have any egg eaters! Whew! I’ve been giving them oyster and egg shells and they’re eating them so hopefully the soft shells will resolve over time. I did find 2 soft shells on the poop board this morning and one had some egg white in it still so they’re not exactly pouncing on it like I saw them do the other day! Hahah Thanks for the info!

Soft shells only lasted a few days for us. The oyster and egg shells will solve the problem pretty quickly in my experience (limited as it may be).

 

[starri33]

I've always heard not to give a dog a old shoe or sock as they don't know the difference between a old wore out tennie and a new 100.00 pair of reeboks. I've had a problem with what I believe were egg eaters, we made roll away nest boxes, the egg rolls up under a flap on the front of the nest box so they can't get at them, right at the moment even with open choice oyster shell, I am still having issues with thin shells, one gets broke and everyone has a nice snack, if you continue to have the issue, I'd consider a roll away nest.

 

[jherrera59]

I've always heard not to give a dog a old shoe or sock as they don't know the difference between a old wore out tennie and a new 100.00 pair of reeboks. I've had a problem with what I believe were egg eaters, we made roll away nest boxes, the egg rolls up under a flap on the front of the nest box so they can't get at them, right at the moment even with open choice oyster shell, I am still having issues with thin shells, one gets broke and everyone has a nice snack, if you continue to have the issue, I'd consider a roll away nest.

I’ve already thought about it! Im just kind of monitoring things for now and hoping it resolves itself

 

[starri33]

I’ve already thought about it! Im just kind of monitoring things for now and hoping it resolves itself

hoping it does for you.. having egg eaters isn't good.

 

[aart]

I've always heard not to give a dog a old shoe or sock as they don't know the difference between a old wore out tennie and a new 100.00 pair of reeboks.

True, but not quite an apt analogy...
...because it much easier the break a thin/soft shelled egg than a hard shelled egg.

 

[ronott1]

We have 18 girls all about 20 weeks old. Most of them are laying and all has been great! BUT!!! This evening one of our girls laid a soft shelled egg. Almost ALL of them ran over there so fast and they all ate it! It was so bizarre! You would have thought I threw their favorite treat in there the way they ran to eat it! I found an egg yesterday that was pecked open and one today that appeared to just be broken in the nest box but the shell seemed rather thin so I figured it got knocked around by one of them while laying. I was hoping the 2 eggs I found were not the result of egg eaters but when they all ran to eat the soft shelled egg I had second thoughts and just hoping it has to do with it being soft? HELP!!!!

Chickens are opportunistic eaters and will eat eggs that break. It is normal behaviour.

I have never had an egg eating hen-- the one that breaks eggs on purpose. I have had hens eat eggs but that is always because the eggs have softer than normal shells.

When this happens, I will give them vitamins like durvet egg laying vitamins and make sure they have plenty of oyster shell calcium. I also will treat or check them for worms, lice and mites