[Nickchick]

Hello All

We started off 18 months ago with 3 ex batts.  We lost one earlier in the year   We have 2 left which no longer lay eggs (not a problem as we knew this would happen with ex batts)

We have an enclosed run of 12 square metres and I would like to get a couple more chucks now.

Towards the end of my ex batts laying life they were laying very thin shells and got into the habbit of eating what they were laying

Anyway!  The OH is reluctant to get more chucks as he thinks that the eggs they lay will be eaten by the ex batts.  Is there a breed that lay strong shells that my prevent this happening?

I tell my OH that if we wait until the ex batts 'pop their clogs' they are very unlikely to go at the same time which means we will have a lonely chicken which is not acceptable.

What do you think?

[tesni]

can see your dilemma!  What if you do a re-training course with the ex-batts?  I know there are ways of discouraging egg eating, tho it is a hard habit to break.  If you search the threads you'll find advice on that (I don't know any as luckily not had that problem so far  ) and you could sacrifice some shop bought eggs with pepper or mustard or whatever noxious substance is advised     Got to be worth a shot so you can get a some chicken retail therapy - always good for the soul ! 

[Nickchick]

Thanks Tesni

I have to admit that we did try the chilli in the eggs etc but nothing seemed to work.  The OH added a small box and sloped the floor in the hope that the eggs would role away.  They problem we had was that the shells were sooo thin that they didn't survive the roll.  I caught a chicken with her head through the gap eating the contents

[Hayley'sHens]

I have 1 hen who always stands right up when laying    So sometimes we get a broken egg, Then hens eat that if im not there quick enough to remove it but they have never touched the other eggs. Maybe your will have gotten out of the habit now of they are no longer laying they are no longer getting the eggs to eat? Would it be worth putting a few shop brought eggs in and seeing if they attempt to eat them?

[Nickchick]

That is a really good idea Hayley'shens and I am going to try it this afternoon

[orchardlady]

How about putting some crock eggs in the nest boxes. They are hard and possibly will give them beak ache if they try to peck them. You could mark them with a cross on one side to see if they have been moved. Do this for about a week, then put one or two shop bought eggs in with the crock eggs and again mark them to see if they move them. If you get POL pullets it will be 4-8 weeks before they lay any eggs so you have that time to run your experiment. Good luck!

[sneezer]

Hi there with my girls (again they are rescue hens) so have had a few softies they will clear up any soft shelled or no shelled eggs but will not touch a shell which is hard because they haven't put the two together that its the same thing!hopefully it will be the same with yours.

[Casey76]

It is just natures way to clean up any unviable eggs.  A hen who eat's a soft shelled egg, may not even think to touch a "normal" egg.

I used to occasionally get a soft shell or two (I had two meat hybrids which layed and they never produced the best eggs) and they would always be eaten, however none of my flock used to touch normal eggs, unless I dropped one on the ground, then there would be a free-for-all!

[PaulineM]

Hi
I have a hen that lays thin shelled eggs and when they break she eats the evidence but if they are strong she will leave them alone.
When a hen lays a egg they will peck it to see if it is strong if the shell breaks then they will eat it, but if it survives the peck they will walk away.
So there is hope that they might not eat another hens eggs, but then again if an egg is broken it is fair game to any hen passing.
Try with shop bought eggs as suggested but you could also try giving her limestone flour to see if it strenghtens her shells. 

[Hayley'sHens]

How did you get on?

[Flowerpower136]

My ex batts will clear up soft shells/broken shells, but don't touch the good eggs.  Lovely girlies leave them for me.

Our nest boxes are quite dark, and I've noticed that when I take the top off to collect eggs and clean, they all rush in for a look see.  Cos there might be egg that they've missed in gloom!  It's really funny.  I have to try to mop up egg messy bedding before they can eat it.

As I say, they never eat or damage good shelled eggs.  So here's hoping yours are the same.