I have a RIR, two marans, and three Cream Legbars. This is their first laying season and about a month after they started laying, one (or some) of them started pecking the eggs incessantly. Sometimes we would get 4-5 eggs a day but 3 or more would be pecked and broken. I tried golf balls, empty shells filled with mustard, etc. and nothing worked. It was sooooo frustrating.
Then...recently we had to leave all the hens locked up for two days while we went out of town. This was the first time they have not been allowed to free range during the day. Guess what?! We came back and there were 9 perfect eggs - not a single egg was pecked. Now we have started leaving the hens locked in the hen house every day until mid-afternoon (which is the time of day by which they've all usually finished laying) then we collect the eggs and let them out to forage. This is working PERFECTLY.
So it seems there was something about letting them free-range too much that was encouraging them to peck their own eggs. Anyone have any ideas about why this would be? My hunch is that if they lay and then forage and then wander back to the coop, they forget that those are THEIR eggs, and they peck at them out of curiosity/stupidity. Or, by virtue of being locked up in close quarters with their own eggs, they naturally are more protective of their eggs??? Maybe?
Whatever the reason, I'm glad it's working, but if anyone has some insight on this I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm just so glad we stumbled upon this simple solution. We are getting 4-6 perfect eggs a day now.
Then...recently we had to leave all the hens locked up for two days while we went out of town. This was the first time they have not been allowed to free range during the day. Guess what?! We came back and there were 9 perfect eggs - not a single egg was pecked. Now we have started leaving the hens locked in the hen house every day until mid-afternoon (which is the time of day by which they've all usually finished laying) then we collect the eggs and let them out to forage. This is working PERFECTLY.
So it seems there was something about letting them free-range too much that was encouraging them to peck their own eggs. Anyone have any ideas about why this would be? My hunch is that if they lay and then forage and then wander back to the coop, they forget that those are THEIR eggs, and they peck at them out of curiosity/stupidity. Or, by virtue of being locked up in close quarters with their own eggs, they naturally are more protective of their eggs??? Maybe?
Whatever the reason, I'm glad it's working, but if anyone has some insight on this I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm just so glad we stumbled upon this simple solution. We are getting 4-6 perfect eggs a day now.
