Hi
I had five hens and one rooster, ranging from 3 – 8 years old. At the end of January i bought four new hens. They started laying small eggs about a month ago. I get an average of about 5 eggs per day. But starting this week the eggs have been pecked at and cracked. Im assuming its the new hens as it didnt happen in about five years.
How can i stop them from continuing to eat eggs?
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We’re having that problem right now, and with 4 of our 9 adult hens gone broody, we’re barely getting 2-3 eggs a day — and it’s summer here. I’d suggest several methods…
First, know the cause. They could be eating them due to boredom. I’d suggest giving them supervised free-range time in your yard for a few hours (an hour or two before it gets dark so they don’t wander too far) if at all possible. If that’s not possible, make sure they have a large coop and run. Hang a head of cabbage from the run’s wire top and they’ll peck it. It’ll keep them entertained for hours. (This is a sort of long-shot for helping get rid of the urge to eat eggs, but I hope it works before you have to go to further measures).
Another reason they could be eating the eggs are nutritional deficiencies. We feed ours Layena Layer Pellets after 18 weeks of age, and supplement their diet with scratch grains, cracked corn in the winter–helps them build up heat quicker so they stay warm, oyster shells (good source of calcium; provide this in a free-standing dish so they can get however much they want when they need it. They know. 🙂 Also be sure to be feeding some sort of grit. And if you see them eat rocks… It’s okay. That’s normal. They’re doing that to help digest their food.
Here are some helpful tips to help prevent your flock from starting this behavior:
1. Feed your flock a layer feed containing at least 16% protein
2. Limit the treats and kitchen scraps that you feed your flock.
3. Share high protein treats with your flock including dried meal worms, sunflower seeds and plain yogurt (no artificial ingredients or sweeteners)
4. Keep nesting boxes up off the ground. This helps keep the eggs out of sight and out of mind.
5. Harvest your eggs at least 2-3 times per day.
6. Provide your flock with free access to oyster shells or recycled eggshells to help form thicker eggshells.
7. Be sure the eggs have a soft place to land in the nesting box.
8. Be sure to provide plenty of fresh water, some chicken start eating eggs when water is scarce.
9. Be sure the chickens have plenty of space and if you are able to safely, allow free-ranging.
10. Never feed your chickens eggs that still look like eggs or shells. Do not be tempted to toss a cracked eggs into the run for the chickens to devour. You can feed your chickens scrambled eggs or crush the eggshells into small unrecognizable pieces.
11. Keep nesting boxes dark.
12. Be sure you have at least one nesting box per 4 laying hens.
However, since yours have already started… get mustard. Take an egg, put it on the ground near all the chickens (don’t let them have it yet) and pour the mustard all over it. Then stand back and let them eat it. Make sure they have plenty of fresh water at all times.
Another thing you could do would be to purchase wooden eggs. Gather the real eggs quickly, and leave a wooden egg in each nest. When the hens try to peck them and they won’t break, they should grow bored of trying and just give up.
Definitely start to collect the eggs more, though.
Here’s more from Tilly’s Nest (website):
1. If you know which chicken is guilty, then remove them from the flock immediately. Others will learn the behavior from them. If they continue to eat eggs, try rehoming them, sometimes a change of scenery can stop a bad habit.
2. According to the University of Florida, filling a dish with milk and allowing chickens to drink it decreased the egg eating behavior.
3. The University of Florida also suggests beating an egg into a creamy consistency, stir in 2 teaspoons of black pepper and pour it on the coop floor. The taste will stop hens from eating their eggs.
4. Create slanted nesting boxes that allow freshly laid eggs to roll down into a secret collection area that the chickens cannot access.
5. Try adding golf balls to the nesting boxes.
6. Clean up every bit of the broken egg. Leave no traces behind. Change out any bedding that has egg on it.
7. Try filling an empty egg shell with mustard. The chickens will not enjoy the taste. Interestingly, hot sauce does not work on birds, they can’t taste it.
8. Try pinless peepers.
9. Try adding distractions, such as a hanging ball of cabbage.
10. Be sure you actually have a hen eating your eggs, it is not uncommon in certain areas for snakes to enter chicken coops and swallow whole eggs.
Source(s): http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/02/egg-eating-preve…
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You could try picking up the eggs before the hens peck the eggs. Some times it maybe cause their hungry. I have a hen, she used to peck her eggs but when I started to give her more food every day, she stopped pecking at her eggs.
Source(s): Own experience
Hate to be this person, but its their eggs. It isn’t their fault that they were taken from their habitat and forced to lay eggs for the rest of their lives for you.
You’ll find a number of things you can do at the link below.
Source(s): http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Chickens-from-Eating-T…