laying boxes

[mitchmaine]

penny and i are trying to build a chicken tractor for her hens. she asked for some drop egg nesting boxes, so i googled it and got a few ideas. nothing really got me, though. wondering if any of you might have a clever solution to the problem. we must have one or two egg eatin’ chickens. thats all i can figure. the shells are hard enough and we always seen to get a few dozen solid ones, but miss a few here and there. broken shells and missing yokes. any ideas? thanks, mitch

[jen judkins]

We have the same problem, Mitch. I used to fret about the chickens cannibalistic behavior, but it has not escalated…only a egg here and there. We also had a couple of crows that enjoyed dipping into the hen house for a bit of grain and would fly away with an egg as well. My solution is simply to fetch eggs a couple times a day, while they are still warm and no one has had a chance to get bored and peck at one. I also think making sure they have a clean source of oyster shell helps with the problem.

[sickle hocks]

I’m experimenting with a ‘community nest box’..it’s google-able….a long narrow box with a small entrance in the center, hen’s can go right or left and find a place to lay. One of the advantages is supposed to be reduced egg eating as it is particularly dark towards the ends where they go. You can even hang a cover over the door to keep it darker. So far so good.

I remember my folks use to get wooden ‘dummy’ eggs from the hatchery and leave them out…the idea being the chickens would eventually learn there was no reward for pecking at eggs. Not sure if it was effective.

[Does’ Leap]

There is a great recipe for Chicken Pot Pie in the second to last Small Farmers Journal if you identify the offender(s).

George

[Anonymous]

I was having this issue with some new hens I bought. I would check for eggs a few times per day, keep oyster shells ready, and I feed all of the meat scraps I can get my hands on. We raise rabbits and the chickens will pick the meat right off the bone they go crazy for it before the bones hit the ground. It has worked so far. As for roll away boxes it is as easy as putting a tilted floor on the box and have a slot in the front or back with a little covered channel to hold the eggs. Ive been an ornithologist for 8 plus years now and birds normally dont eat their own eggs, so if we have egg eaters then something is wrong. I also built a small laying house that is separate from the main coop that I can move around, it is small and dark and it also keeps them from roosting in the boxes and pooping all over the bedding.
I have heard of blowing eggs and filling them with hot sauce, never tried it though…

good luck

[jen judkins]

@sickle hocks 34127 wrote:

I remember my folks use to get wooden ‘dummy’ eggs from the hatchery and leave them out…the idea being the chickens would eventually learn there was no reward for pecking at eggs. Not sure if it was effective.

I found a dozen or so egg shaped rocks at the beach one summer for that very purpose. As you said, I’m not sure it helps, but I think now we only lose an egg to an accidental cracking.

[mitchmaine]

my grandmother used to have some 4 or 5 porcelan eggs that she used to put in under a broody hen. then she would steal the fresh one and no one was the wiser. haven’t seen one of those eggs in years. they were great just to pick up and hold.
thanks, everyone, for the helpful tips. appreciate it. mitch

[Author]

Posts