[Heather B]

I know there have been various posts about this problem but I am now at my wits end with this problem of egg eating.  All my twelve girls seem to be at it.  I have a good regime - plenty of available grit, space, things to do and hanging veg etc.  I have just changed from smallholder food to the organic marriage range as this seems to contain more calcium but I am still getting a few eggs laid which are not quite complete thus then breaking. I have dark nest boxes.  I also have a broody Orpington at the moment who is keeps sitting on the fragile eggs.


Hubby and I have 'jokingly' talked about eating the lot of them and replacing with ducks!  They are now costing us money - bedding, hay and time wasting - clearing out broken eggs and removing left over yolk and shell.  But of course, I am reluctant to do this albeit some of you fellow poultry owners may recommend doing this as egg eating is a serious habit to break.  I do have an ideas that the girls laying the fragile eggs are three we got from a fair last year so I could separate them.


Does anyone have any other tips - for example would a cockerel keep them in better order?


Many thanks   

[Cosmore]

I see you provide them with grit, what about crushed oyster shell? I have always made sure my poultry have ample available mixed in with the food - I never relied on the layers pellets to contain sufficient calcium.

[Bionic]

I sympathise Heather. I have the same problem. Mine free range and are on mixed corn.
I have, however, temporarily overcome the problem. I have a broody hen sitting on her own in the stable. The others go in there to lay their eggs, usually sitting on top of the broody. She then scoops the egg under her and keeps it safe. Well at least until I take it from her. Poor broody, we don't have a cockerel so they will never hatch anyway.

[in the hills]

You may have already tried these but:

Collect eggs as frequently as possible.

Could they be let out to 'free range' during some of the day?  .... gives them more to do and might help break the habit.

Put lemons in the nest boxes or platter eggs or eggs filled with mustard etc.

[Q]

I have only had one hen who did this and i think it was because we didnt realise she had started laying and had no grit.
I think she was laying for possible two weeks before I realised she was eating her own egg completely!
When we put her in with the main pen she started waiting for the others to lay before having a peck.
We successfully used the mustard egg idea but.....  every now and again I get a few broken ones and have to resort to mustard again.
They dont seem to forget about it easily

[Marches Farmer]

I rarely have an egg eater but cull them immediately - cockerels will follow the example of the hens rather thna stop it happening.

[Stereo]

Agree on that, cockerels will start encouraging them as well. Idiots. Only real problem I had was a batch of ex batts we got to boost egg numbers and it was a disaster. Poor things were done for, laying thin eggs and eating any that they could. I spent time and money trying to sort it and it was a hard lesson as in the end they just had to go.

[Caroline1]

I have a couple that will eat broken eggs, but not to the point where they are cracking open the eggs. If the shells start to get a bit thin, I just throw some Oyster shell in the run and it solves the problem.

Open you find a way to solve yours, must be so frustrating

[SallyintNorth]

Does anyone else crush, dry and feed back the shells?  I wouldn't feed them whole, in case it gives them ideas, but I dry them and crush them right down, then feed them back with the grit

[Caroline1]

I tried it, but thought you were suppose to bake the shells before crushing (I got lazy and stopped)

[SallyintNorth]

I dry mine on top of the Rayburn, I suspect that's as good as baking.  Before I had the Rayburn, I used to put them in the oven after I'd used it, to dry in the residual heat.

[Bionic]

No baking going on here. If they get the chance mine will take everything. In fact the other day the dog found half an egg and the chickens made him drop it so that they could finish it off 

[roddycm]

I would eat them and start again ensuring the next lot have grit oyster shell and access to greens. The nest boxes are best if they are dark inside and lined with straw or hay. Ducks will also eat their own eggs so if you opt for them you will still need to make sure you cater to all their basic needs too! Good thing about duck is that they tend to lay in the am so collection could be once a day!

Good luck

[devonlady]

It starts, I think, when thin shelled eggs are broken in the nest and the hen instinctively cleans it up to avoid contamination of other eggs. Are your hens old? Old girls do lay more fragile eggs.
Free ranging, even for a few hours a day will keep them interested and help them get the nutrients needed.
It's a sticky problem though!

[Heather B]

Thanks for all your replies.  Have separated 3 girls who are now a year old whom it appears after some investigation are/one of them is laying eggs with thin shells.  I thought at least then I could concentrate on building them up and ensuring they get ample food and grit; they have never really thrived as well as the others.  Am going to try some egg shell improver, worm again, de-louse again and see how they get on.  I have reduced run space with a separate enclosure for silkies and bantams so perhaps this has had an effect.


But yes it is frustrating especially when they are all running around following the hen who has got the egg!