Hens eating their own eggs ??

zetorman

My hens have resumed laying after their winter break. Only problem is they are not using their nests as they did last year and worst of all they are eating their own eggs. They are completely free range here on the farm and are only locked in at night. Any ideas please ??

aonb

Hens eating precious eggs = the absolute pits!
Its a really hard habit to break so the important thing is to get out there and get the eggs in before they can be eaten.
Are they in a run? When you let them out of the coop in the mornings, is there a way to contain them to force them in to the coop/nest boxes to lay? Letting them free range is a disaster if they are going off to lay where they will.
(I once found the most perfect little nest built under a shrub, with about 25 eggs in it )
I would recommend that you leave them in the run with access to the coop/nest boxes, forcing them to lay before you let them out to free range.
How many hens do you have? You will have to be in/out to those nest boxes collecting eggs, from under the hen if necessary, to prevent them being eaten. Usually its just ONE CULPRIT who has discovered how yummy the eggs are!

Are the shells hard enough? If they are weak/thin shelled, eggs are probably getting broken, which is what is starting this habit. If the shells seem weak/thin, its a sign of low calcium. You can buy LIMESTONE FLOUR from your feedstore (horsefeeds) add 1 spoon/day to the hens feed to harden up the shells - for about a week, see how its going, then stop until needed again.

(Putting mustard into empty eggs is a complete waste of time by the way!!)

vinnie13

are you sure the hens are eating then i had the same problem few years ago turned out to be rats

moy83

The grandmother used to clip their beaks with a yoke like a nail clippers so they couldnt break the shell easily . There is probably only one or two culprits at it.

Base price

If you can keep them confined into a run until lunch time before letting them out to freerange. In my experience most hens lay in the morning. Also a good tip is to place dummy (porcelain) eggs or golf balls into the nest boxes to encourage the hens to use them. Some people use roll away nest boxes with success.
I have never managed to stop an egg eater although some people have. I cull the offender once identified.

aonb

The roll away nest box sounds like it is a great solution - also the advantage of cleaner eggs, and they wont get broken when next hen comes to lay etc.

I dont believe its a good idea to clip hens beaks - first of all, its not safe unless you know exactly what you are doing, and also it can cause bad regrowth, and can cause problems with eating.

J.O. Farmer

aonb wrote: »

The roll away nest box sounds like it is a great solution - also the advantage of cleaner eggs, and they wont get broken when next hen comes to lay etc.

I dont believe its a good idea to clip hens beaks - first of all, its not safe unless you know exactly what you are doing, and also it can cause bad regrowth, and can cause problems with eating.

Is debeaking even allowed anymore under animal welfare legislation within the E.U.

aonb

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

Is debeaking even allowed anymore under animal welfare legislation within the E.U.

I hope it isnt, but werent batter hens debeaked up til very very recently. I didnt want to go down the cruelty route in my reply in case it started major flaming, but I do think its very cruel and totally unnecessary.

If the hens are getting in to the habit of eating eggs, the best solution (I found) was to get out there several times in the morning when laying is going on, and get the eggs out of the nests. It can help too to scatter some corn/grain around the run, or hang a head of cabbage or whatever they favour most, when laying is going on - keep the hens occupied/busy

reilig

Ground limestone.

Buy a small bag of it and leave some in a tray in the coop. They will pick at it instead. they reason why they pick at the egg is because they are deficient in calcium. The ground limestone will help to solve the deficiency.

The longer it is left untreated, the more they will develop the habit and you will have to get rid of the ones that pick. It's probably only 1 or 2 out of your group that do it.

Lucyn

Have you seen them do it? Our hens lay between 7-11am so I don't let them out til after that. If for some reason, I don't collect the eggs, the crows go in and eat the eggs :mad:

aonb

Rats, magpies and crows will steal eggs -though they dont tend to leave the broken shells in the coop (i.e. take them away with them) - if there are shells/bits of egg in the coop, I would guess that its a hen thats doing it.

OP what time do your hens tend to lay their eggs - go out to the coop regularly on sat and sun mornings (if you work and cant do it any other day) to take in the eggs. Look to see if any hen has egg yolk on her beak or face.