Training year-old hens (egg eaters) to use new individual nest boxes

[newtoitall]

I feel like a total failure. Flock of 9 are 13 months old and started eating eggs a month ago. They seem almost feral; I've caught them sitting on a laying hen's head or at her rear waiting for an egg to drop then they peck away at it. We had nesting boxes that were (sadly) large enough for 2-3 chickens to cram in so it was easy for them to get in the habit of hanging out there. We closed off their enclosed roost & nest boxes today so they only have access to the large coop, roosting bar, and the new 3-slot rollout nesting box. I stopped giving them kitchen scraps and mealworms when they started egg eating, thinking they may not be getting enough protein but it hasn't helped. Feed is 16%, offering oyster shell in separate hanging feeder. When egg eating started I had been adding calcium to feed of crushed egg shells I'd roasted at 200 degrees for an hour, then ground in food processor to not taste of or resemble egg shells. Obviously that was a bad plan. They don't want anything to do with the new nesting boxes and if they lay in the coop they'll be eating those, too. I'm only able to save about 1 egg per day which is, of course, not sustainable. Aaaany ideas???

 

[All Ball]

Sounds like you've really been trying to do your best for them - no need to feel like a failure, not to mention a total failure!! I had some egg-eating but certainly not with that kind of aggressiveness. I have also had 2 girls stuff into a nest without problems except for the drama they went through before reaching that solution. In response to egg-eating, I started offering a higher-protein starter/grower feed option (also in response to a spurt of feather-eating). The mealworms are reallly good protein, aren't they? I may have even offered them some tuna fish but that was very luxurious. For egg-eating, I work from home so made regular trips out to pull eggs. Because the girls free range, they are not always near nests so I did not need to be out there constantly. I blew out eggshells and filled them with mustard and placed them in laying spots. I also got some used golf balls and placed them mutiply in all nests. It seemed to be a stage the girls were going through and they stopped, luckily. What you share makes me wonder if they have enough room to roam around during the day. My girls tend to avoid the coop unless they are laying an egg - they want to spend the day away from where they spend the night.

Hope some of that helps! Best of luck, and hopefully it is a passing phase.

 

[newtoitall]

Sounds like you've really been trying to do your best for them - no need to feel like a failure, not to mention a total failure!! I had some egg-eating but certainly not with that kind of aggressiveness. I have also had 2 girls stuff into a nest without problems except for the drama they went through before reaching that solution. In response to egg-eating, I started offering a higher-protein starter/grower feed option (also in response to a spurt of feather-eating). The mealworms are reallly good protein, aren't they? I may have even offered them some tuna fish but that was very luxurious. For egg-eating, I work from home so made regular trips out to pull eggs. Because the girls free range, they are not always near nests so I did not need to be out there constantly. I blew out eggshells and filled them with mustard and placed them in laying spots. I also got some used golf balls and placed them mutiply in all nests. It seemed to be a stage the girls were going through and they stopped, luckily. What you share makes me wonder if they have enough room to roam around during the day. My girls tend to avoid the coop unless they are laying an egg - they want to spend the day away from where they spend the night.

Hope some of that helps! Best of luck, and hopefully it is a passing phase.

Thanks for your thoughts! I may need to try letting them out of the coop but I need to figure out the easiest way to do that and still keep them from eating all my perennials and veggies. I would LOVE for them to have a crack at eating some of the thousands of grasshoppers that are currently invading! Thanks again!

 

[aart]

I may need to try letting them out of the coop

How big is your coop, and run - if you have one, on feet by feet??
Dimensions and pics would help here.

Feed is 16%

Might try going with a higher percentage protein.

How long have they been eating the eggs?
It may now be an ingrained habit, not likely to be corrected with diet,
tho the crushed egg shells in the feed had nothing to do with egg eating.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

How long have they been eating the eggs?

OP says a month.

(Sorry I don’t have anything else to add to the conversation, just wanted to point out that information is already available.)

 

[All Ball]

Thanks for your thoughts! I may need to try letting them out of the coop but I need to figure out the easiest way to do that and still keep them from eating all my perennials and veggies. I would LOVE for them to have a crack at eating some of the thousands of grasshoppers that are currently invading! Thanks again!

You may want to check out the designs on here for portable chicken tractors - a safe way to get them outside foraging rotationally while protecting your garden.

 

[FrostRanger]

I second upping their protein to about 20%. They might be eating eggs 'cause they aren't getting the protein they need. You can also try roll away nest boxes, people have had success with that

 

[newtoitall]

I'll try the higher protein feed next. The coop/run is 8' x 12'. I've let them out a couple times to see what they'd do and they started to destroy my perennial plantings, both by chomping the leaves and digging under the plants almost digging the roots out. I'm sure they were looking for bugs in the cool, wet soil, but still - can't have them doing that. So I'm hoping the 8 x 12 is enough space for them.
This is the nesting box we just bought https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CX4SX6B?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details. One hen laid an egg in it last night and one this morning - both rolled away as they should. However, we have NINE hens and they've only laid two eggs in the last two days. Goodness, you'd think they'd be ready to pop!

 

[paintedChix]

Besides upping the protein feed, I'd go back to the other - giving them the kitchen scraps & meal worms.

Also offering their eggs back in diced or powdered form is great. I would not mix it w/ the feed, but offer it in another dish free choice.

Other than that, I have no solutions. I used to feed back hidden nest eggs, or exceptionally dirty eggs, just by tossing & breaking them. To the best of my knowledge, I never had regular egg eaters - stealing & eating eggs.

I've used a variety of different nest boxes & it always seemed like the smallest ones had the girls pile on top of each other. When 1st learning, always had 1 or 2 hens that laid out of the box.

I bought a 2 hole nest, similar to yours for my 2 granddaughters in MT. They have 6 pullets & showing 2 each at the Marias fair (several counties) in July... I just bought 2 reversible roll out nests from Premier 1 for us in NC. I will be putting one each In 2 tractors in the next couple months to see how they work. I actually have 6 tractors & will have different nest boxes in each before this winter, to see which I eventually like best. Just need to build them in...

Curious what ends up working for you.

 

[newtoitall]

I'll follow your suggestion and add back in the kitchen scraps & mealworms. Thank you!