Egg Eater??

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Jaye
Poultry Guru - chick level
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Re: Egg Eater??

Post by Jaye » Thu Sep 21, 2017 2:38 pm

KimChick wrote:
Thu Sep 21, 2017 1:34 pm
Ontario Chick wrote:
Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:50 am
That is frustrating and once the whole lovely flock is introduced, it's time for rollaway boxes.
What are roll-away boxes?
Roll-away nest boxes are nest boxes with floors that have a slight incline or decline (depending on the design: Some egg collection areas are at the front of the nest box, others are at the back), so that as the eggs are laid, they roll away towards an egg collection area where they are out of reach of the hens.
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Happy
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Re: Egg Eater??

Post by Happy » Thu Sep 21, 2017 4:01 pm

If it's an every now and then thing TBH my thoughts are "no big deal". Mine are not egg eaters and never peck eggs. However if one gets broken accidentally either from thin shell or someone laid while on the perch (happened twice this week) or jostling in the nest box then it's not really an egg eater. I think ANY chicken will eat an egg if they're in the right place at the right time. Now if they're purposely pecking the eggs to eat then that's another story and up to you what measures you're willing to take. Just curious-is this hen broody?
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KimChick
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Re: Egg Eater??

Post by KimChick » Fri Sep 22, 2017 2:52 pm

Happy wrote:
Thu Sep 21, 2017 4:01 pm
If it's an every now and then thing TBH my thoughts are "no big deal". Mine are not egg eaters and never peck eggs. However if one gets broken accidentally either from thin shell or someone laid while on the perch (happened twice this week) or jostling in the nest box then it's not really an egg eater. I think ANY chicken will eat an egg if they're in the right place at the right time. Now if they're purposely pecking the eggs to eat then that's another story and up to you what measures you're willing to take. Just curious-is this hen broody?
OK. The eggs that I find eaten are the ones that have been kicked out of the nesting box by the next hen and then peck at, or they are very thin or soft shells.
At this stage, it is hard to tell one BSL from another; I think she is a broody one, but not absolutely sure. Would you be thinking about a need for more protein? If so, whenever we let them out, they do get a lot of bugs, including grasshoppers. And we don't want to give them a drastic change to their diet and have a bumblefoot problem again!
So, at this point, I think I will just take it as it is and deal with cleaning nesting boxes more often.
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Happy
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Re: Egg Eater??

Post by Happy » Fri Sep 22, 2017 3:05 pm

You might be better served to put a wider lip on your nesting boxes so they can't kick the eggs out. If they are just opportunistic egg eaters then I don't think you need to worry about their diet. However if you get a lot of thin shells I'd think about adding oyster shell if you don't already. Free choice all the time and in a couple different locations. I have a nervous girl that didn't like to go to where the oyster shell container was because she could get cornered. Took me a while to figure that out when she started laying thin shells. Added 2 more small containers and problem solved. Oh and if you have a broody hen trust me...you'll know it lol.
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