Young birds eating eggs - advice needed

[aart]

Two Formex Snaplock large coops

Not really big enough for 20 birds.
Crowding stress can exacerbate bad behaviors.

Free access to oyster shell

Are they consuming the OS?

 

[JJandtheBoys]

Not really big enough for 20 birds.
Crowding stress can exacerbate bad behaviors.


Are they consuming the OS?

I believe the coops are not the issues. The coops are actually part of what we call "mega coop." Here's how it is configured: Within the chicken yard, we have a covered, walk-in, steel chicken run into which both coops open. So, at night, we lock up the run within the yard but leave the coop doors open so the birds can run in and out for food or playtime as the sun rises before we have a chance to open up their run door to let them into the yard. The run is also wrapped it in hardware cloth (which is also buried to 12"), and all gaps are sealed, as well. So this run with two coops is our "mega coop" consisting of a total of 78 square feet. We have a mixed flock with a lot of bantams (d'uccles, silkies, cochin), so the space really does not seem to be an issue. When not free ranging, they have a large cluttered yard. So far, there has been zero aggression - no bickering or pecking - lots of lazy dust bathing, roosting on their branches, barrels, ladders, and such. Even when they able to free range each day, a lot of the flock choose to hang out in their yard.

I wonder if this is a nutrition issue? As I mentioned, we have four feeding and watering stations, but I only have ONE oyster shell station. I'm thinking of adding another one based on the egg-bandit's behavior.

 

[50-45-1]

You could also try to darken the nest boxes. They cant eat what they cant see.
Once you identify the egg eater(s) put pinless peepers on her.
Some folks think these are cruel but 6 weeks and a feather picker if mine no longer picked feathers and I was able to keep her.
Boredom is sometimes a leading factor. I through my chickens flakes of alfalfa hay and a couple deer carrots each day to give them something interesting to spend there time scratching and pecking at.
Good luck!

 

[JJandtheBoys]

You could also try to darken the nest boxes. They cant eat what they cant see.
Once you identify the egg eater(s) put pinless peepers on her.
Some folks think these are cruel but 6 weeks and a feather picker if mine no longer picked feathers and I was able to keep her.
Boredom is sometimes a leading factor. I through my chickens flakes of alfalfa hay and a couple deer carrots each day to give them something interesting to spend there time scratching and pecking at.
Good luck!

This is super-duper helpful. Thank you. I've got the nesting box curtains and the pinless peepers ready to go. Tomorrow will be a big day for some little birds.

 

[Flockincrazy]

For the past three days, one of our chickens (or some of them) have been eating eggs - faster than we can gather them. The yard is impenetrable by predators, so I am absolutely sure that the eggs are being eaten by our own birds. I am adding ceramic eggs to all of our 10 nesting boxes, but I need advice on how to stop this. I am working from home, so the kids and I are checking for eggs very frequently and removing them immediately, but these egg-eaters are faster than we are.

Please feel free to ignore or read the rest of this post, but I'm including this information now, in case this detail is helpful in providing possible solutions.

We have a flock of 20 birds - 6 hens who are 19 months old, 1 19 month old rooster, and 13 pullets ages 14 and 16 weeks. This is the first instance of egg eating.

• Free range daily for about 5 to 6 hours - they usually stay within a 1/2 acre of their yard but have been known to explore up to 5 acres on our property
• 4 feeding/watering stations around their chicken yard with access to Purina Flock Raiser
• Free access to oyster shell and grit
• Enclosed chicken yard - 360 Square feet
• Two Formex Snaplock large coops (raised to allow access under - in other words, lots of room to run)
• A third smallish coop that is also in their covered run - all chickens have access to it, and it can serve as a "hospital coop" or "isolation coop" if we need it to (because it has a self-contained run that we can close off if needed. Nobody actually sleeps in this coop. They play in it, and recently someone is laying in the nesting box. This particular coop has been the scene of the crime all three times.

The yard is constructed of cedar posts with 6' of chicken wire fencing (buried a foot). The wire fence is also skirted in 2" of hardware cloth -12" below, 12" above ground. Inside the yard is a 6' Rugged Ranch chicken pen that can be closed at night. It is also skirted with 2' of hardware mesh - 12" below, 12" above ground). The yard also has "awnings" of which wire around the perimeter to deter hawks or climbing animals.





Recently, our older birds have started laying again after a post-molt winter break. Someone is laying eggs in our the nesting box the small coop.

I would give more protein and put a game cam in there to find the culprit

 

[JJandtheBoys]

UPDATE: I immediately added a curtain to the nesting box where the egg eating was happening. I also tossed ceramic eggs into ALL nesting boxes. No one has eaten an egg since Monday. I was hopeful when eggs were undisturbed on Tuesday. More encouraged when the same happened on Wednesday. And today, I was very excited to grab the eggs out of the nesting boxes with NO casualties. For us, darkening the boxes and adding ceramic eggs has worked so far. We'll see how we are doing in a week or two (especially as our juveniles start to lay).

 

[MarkJr]

UPDATE: I immediately added a curtain to the nesting box where the egg eating was happening. I also tossed ceramic eggs into ALL nesting boxes. No one has eaten an egg since Monday. I was hopeful when eggs were undisturbed on Tuesday. More encouraged when the same happened on Wednesday. And today, I was very excited to grab the eggs out of the nesting boxes with NO casualties. For us, darkening the boxes and adding ceramic eggs has worked so far. We'll see how we are doing in a week or two (especially as our juveniles start to lay).

Sounds like you're on the right track!