[cammi]

I realise this has been covered but it seems to cover hens eating their own eggs.

 I caught our Araucana eating a shell this morning, she had brought it out into the run.  She is not laying yet, it is another girls egg.  The actual insides were still in the egg box untouched just seemed to be the shell she wanted.  They have a dish of grit and oyster shell in their run.  My girls lay over night and i collect the eggs in the morning.

So why is she doing this and how do i stop her.  Do i remember something about putting like a bead curtain effect on the front of the egg boxes???

Many thanks

[shetan]

i'm not an expert but i think you've done the right thing by adding grit to the run so that they can have it whenever they want it.

we used to have 4 hens that ate eggs...it got so bad that they started pecking the vent as the other hen would be laying!

someone suggested blowing an egg and filling it with hot mustard. its not nice but the heat will deter the hen from eating the egg. we did this and it was semi-successful. i just worried that the hens might  have burning bottoms the following morning so we didn't do this for very long.

the other thing we did was add pot eggs to the nest boxes. the hens will peck it and quickly realise that there's nothing to gain from it. it will get bored and hopefully stop.

(golf balls are just as good as pot eggs)

these are just the few things we did. however i'm sure there are many far more experienced hands who will help and pass on their knowledge.

best of luck

[hillfooter]

The usual advice is to locate teh egg box low down in a quiet spot where it is dark so birds entering or leaving the house don't pass it.  House design is important and intenal trays on the floor the least effective so if you have these try boxing them in with a roof and sides so they are less open.  Hanging some fabric like ground fabric cut into ribbons might help.  Use pot eggs and collect the eggs regularly so they are left around to tempt them.  I've heard of the mustard idea but never tried it or seen any reports of it being successful.

Try to prevent the habit forming as once they develop this it will be hard to break.  If there's just one individual doing this seperation for a while may help as might a beak bit but I've never tried this for egg eating.
HF

[cammi]

Ah she has laid her first egg today!! So i bet she was making room!  So this may well turn into a nightmare.  Like i said our girls lay overnight and i collect them in the morning so cant get that done quicker.  She's always been a problem in one or another i should know better to expect anything else by now!!

Anyone got any golf balls.........................lol

[hillfooter]

Try Tiger Woods, Top Flights are best

[hillfooter]

Hi Shetan,

 Noticed you've "Just Married 2 German Shepherds, 5 Jersey Giants".  

Are you a vicar or a mormon?
HF

[shetan]

HF

I like the idea of being a vicar but i'm not the right religion!

As for being a mormon...i can barely handle the one husband - wonder how they manage with numerous wives....chickens are far easier to handle 

maybe it works with wives and not husbands...lots to ponder there!   :blink: