why are my chickens eating their eggs??

[Chellester]

chickens eat their eggs for the same reasons we do because they taste good chickens are by nature canaballisic and once they start eating thier own eggs it is very hard to get them to stop you need to figure out which ones are eating their eggs and which ones are not and seperate them out once you figure out which ones are eating their eggs you need to take the eggs asap right after they lay them and eventually they will stop but it will take a long time and a lot of work on your part the only other option is the chopping block good luck

 

[kybukabu]

Quote:
Probably a good idea to take her to the vet, but does anyone know if DE (food grade diatomaceous earth) handles worms as well as fleas?

 

[Arklady]

You can get worm medicine for them from the feed store... I suggest getting the kind where you can keep eating the eggs. There are some worm medicines that worm the birds that you can't eat the eggs for a long time. So I wouldn't use that.

Chickens eat their eggs because they need extra protein for some reason. And eggs are protein, they are putting back into their body which was taken out.

Chickens need 18% protein in their diet and for what ever reason the feed mills have decided they only make it 16% protein. Go figure!

Try feeding your chickens some cheap dog food till they stop eating the eggs. It does help with the egg eating. I finally had to put down a hen that would not stop eating her eggs.

Right now I am having an issue where some of my birds are just thin even though the others are not.

I am thinking the same program for mine but the thing is... I don't know why they aren't eating their eggs... lol So...

They are after all chickens.

Arklady

 

[AmyE690]

We have a couple of those fake eggs from the feed store in our nesting box. The girls just started laying, but I'm hoping that they'll have bad experiences trying to peck the plastic ones. I read about that somewhere... and if it's on the internet, it must be true....

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
Probably a good idea to take her to the vet, but does anyone know if DE (food grade diatomaceous earth) handles worms as well as fleas?

I do believe that DE can be used for worms too... as for worms though. Treat the whole flock, not just one bird. Just take a fecal sample to determine the best treatment and add it to the main watering area.

As for egg eating, they do it because it tastes good. Some things people have tried are filling an egg with tabasco sauce and putting in fake eggs so they stop eating theirs. Another thing is, if you don't find pieces of broken eggs and yolk... it is possible that the season is causing the slow down too. It's molting time!