[Sandy]

Mine are not that keen on thier layers pellets at the moment and there is always some in thier feeder when I go to feed them, they eat it eventualy but the look forward to other bits that come thier way!!! 

I would have popped them in the oven so now I know they will stick, I have lots of those cook in the oven bags so I will do that as grit is very expensive and you may well be spot on, just the soft shells!!!

[northfifeduckling]

Do you have to bake the egg shell first and then crush?

A friend told me that you should pop them in a cooling oven to bake and then crush. Mine solidified on the baking sheet and was impossible to scrape off!

I rinse them then collect inan microwave dish, then bake the whole lot for 5 mins in the micro. Seems as lot of fuzz but they are so much easier to crush and mix with the other grit - make sure it's not visibly recognisable as eggshell, these birds are clever.....

[colliewoman]

Forgive me if I have misread, but if there is no evidence not even wet straw, are you absolutely sure they are being eaten?
The last lot of ex batts I looked after laid loads of eggs, then all of a sudden just stopped whilst they regained proper condition. It took about 2 months before they started to lay again and it was about this time of year. How long have you had them?
If it IS egg eating, we have had success using pot eggs/egg shaped pebbles

[doganjo]

I have found that if there is a sudden drop in number of eggs and no other signs, wet straw bit s of shell etc, that the rats have got there before me.  So I now keep my hens and ducks inside till gone 10, and lift any eggs at that point then check again midday and at bedtime.  Getting 9 eggs daily from 11 hens, one of which I know doesn't lay at all or very infrequently, and 4 out of four duck eggs.

[Penninehillbilly]

I use old foil pie dishes / plates, luckily we have a rayburn, so put leave them in the bottom oven till I remember, at my parents we would put them in while the oven was cooling down,
They only need to dry off, not cook, or try oystershell rather than grit,
We had some calcified seaweed for the field, they seem happy with that.

[chrismahon]

Increasing the Calcium levels in feed beyond 3% maximum can cause Kidney failure. I wouldn't advise crushing and feeding egg shell or using Oyster shell grit if you are already feeding them on layers pellets, which has the right amount.

Blown eggs with Chilli or Mustard are generally enjoyed by hens, but not by rodents. I would go for pot eggs in the nest box and curtains in the front made of slit rubber matting, plastic sheet or sacking or old curtains. This keeps the eggs out of sight. Roll-away nest boxes is next stage or failing that identifying the culprit(s) and despatching them -not all the hens may be egg eating at this stage.

[Penninehillbilly]

Increasing the Calcium levels in feed beyond 3% maximum can cause Kidney failure. I wouldn't advise crushing and feeding egg shell or using Oyster shell grit if you are already feeding them on layers pellets, which has the right amount.

mine are free range, forage out a lot and have a proportion of whole wheat, so are unlikely to get enough calcium from layers pellets, if shells are thin or soft I would guess at not enough calcium,

[plt102]

Hi there, we have rehomed a couple of batches of barn eggs and they always have a couple of weeks of eating eggs before they settle down. They also lay eggs wherever they fancy. Just make sure they have access to good quality feed and lots of water and collect eggs regularly. We fluff up the nest boxes and put in 3 or 4 golf balls in each one ( they are on the floor in case they can't jump up at first). They see the golf balls and it seems to encourage them to lay there and also if they peck the ball they get a nasty shock so they soon stop eating the eggs. Good luck.

[Sandy]

Thanks chrismahon, never knew that one, we feed layers pellets and now no more egg eating, it was only the odd broken one they took, I infact broke one on collection and had to knock the hens out the way!!! my Labs watch but know not to steal any!!!!!! No more eaten eggs here thankfuly!!

[Sharnoak]

Golf balls is a good one! I have put 2 stone eggs in the nest, changed all the straw and bought a bag of grit, when I put down a couple of handfuls, they threw themselves on it so I'm thinking they were missing that in their diet. They have a large grassed enclosure which is well fenced against foxes, and they also get wheat, cracked corn and crushed lupins. Had a success yesterday-2 eggs  not the 7 I have been used to, but a start!

[Mel Rice]

soft shelled eggs do happen even with plenty of grit....sometimes linked with re-start of laying after a break, weather or just because?

[Sharnoak]

Just wanted to thank you all for the input-the problem now appears to have been cracked (no pun intended!), and all the girls are back to laying-and I am back to trying to find uses for all the eggs!!! I have kept the stone eggs in the nesting boxes just in case