Hi all, I have two egg-laying problems. The first one is that I think I have an egg-eater? Today was the second day in a row that I've found a brown egg with a hole in it like so: Its only been one brown egg each time I've found eggs broken like this and with the contents spilled in the nest box. Is this what egg eating looks like? As a result of the first time having found an egg like this I added another nest box cause I thought (and hoped) it had been a crowding issue... I really don't want to deal with egg-eating. The second problem is that one (and only one) of my chickens, an Easter Egger has been regularly laying eggs like this: Are these simply calcium deposits? She's been laying eggs like this daily. I'm not sure which hen it is, but I have two EEs that lay blue eggs, one is almost three years old and the other isn't even one. Are these bumps a problem and if yes how do I stop them? Thank you!!!
This website might help with your questions: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/ourbooks/1/egg-quality-handbook/' Specifically: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/1/egg-quality-handbook/21/pimples Goodluck!
That first pic definitely looks like egg eating. There are several ways to help break egg eaters, including collecting often and leaving wooden eggs in the nesting box to help break them of the habit. If none of those work, there are special nesting boxes that whisk the egg out of the hen's reach as soon as it's laid, or you can deal with the egg eater personally. It's up to you. The second pic is nothing to worry about. We have a couple of hens who lay rough eggs if they get too much calcium, but the rough spots wash off in warm water and it doesn't seem to do the hens any harm. (Though I'm sure if hens could talk, I'd hear a few comments to the contrary on the subject--I can't imagine it's a lot of fun laying a sandpapery egg.) You don't want to take their calcium source away, or the hens that really need it won't have easy access, so I think it's better to have a hen or two that's getting too much than hens who are getting too little.
Hi! I seem to have an egg eater problem, I think. . . .over the weekend I was collecting an egg that was laid in a part of the coop that was hard for me to get to and accidentally dropped one that was in my hand, so of course they all went nuts! Well today i get home and there was a rather fresh looking shell in the coop next to an untouched egg. Since it is so hard for me to get the other egg I sent in my 4 year old and silly girl dropped the egg and again they all go nuts! So now I am worried that we have egg eater problems. All though our egg didn't look like yours at all, it was just a small piece of shell. Our little flock has had a disruption just starting on friday, our favorite bird got attacked by our wiener dog, and I put her in the nest box to rest she stayed in there for 2 days before I thought there might be something wrong. She seems injured so after an inspection and only favoring the injured wing I put her back in and then the pecking began. So We took her out and her buddy that is always with her, and put them in a private coop. Could this disruption have prompted the egg eating or was it simply, supply the drug and you will have an addict so to speak?
Eggs are delicious, and once hens realize eggs are delicious, it's really hard to keep them from eating them. While hens are more likely to peck at eggs if they're bored, it's far more likely given the circumstances that they figured out eggs are tasty from the dropped eggs and just went from there. Every now and then we feed egg shells or even entire eggs back to the chickens if the egg was somehow unfit for human consumption, but we make sure to smash the eggs and shells before we do so. As long as the egg doesn't resemble an egg, they don't make the association between the tasty thing they're eating and the eggs in the nesting boxes. A lot of owners scramble the eggs first, further removing the visual from the reality so the hens don't make the connection. If the eggs you dropped still looked pretty much like eggs, it wouldn't take a huge leap of the imagination for the hens to figure out that they can crack open and eat a whole egg in the box, too. If your hens have in fact picked up the habit of egg eating, you will need to take prompt steps to curb it, or they'll end up getting more eggs than you do.
