Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Hi,
Has anyone had to fix egg-eating behavior?
Our Red Sex-Links, which we originally got for meat birds, are now laying. (They are a dual-purpose bird.)
I would say, compared to the Black Sex-Links, they were "late bloomers". They would be about 6 1/2 months old now; we got them June 1st at 4 wks old.
For example, the egg I found this morning was not a really soft shell, although not really hard either. All are fed a laying mash. It hasn't happened in quite a few days, but has happened when the Reds occasionally laid a soft shelled egg. Our Blacks have never laid soft eggs.
We always scoop up the egg when we find it.
Any input would be welcome.
Thanks.

And now that I think about it.... I thought we got past the soft shell stage.

for soft shelled eggs, supplement with some calcium, like ground oyster shell. that will help the girls lay down the calcium to make a shell.

egg eating behaviour is a tough one....some girls can't be broken. others will only eat IF the egg is broken. you can get roll out nesting boxes...or make your own to hide the eggs so they dont' see them, pick the eggs up multiple times a day....but one thing that you should do is remove the egg eater from the coop before she teaches everyone that eggs are yummy! others you just can't break.

WLLady wrote:QR_BBPOST for soft shelled eggs, supplement with some calcium, like ground oyster shell. that will help the girls lay down the calcium to make a shell.

egg eating behaviour is a tough one....some girls can't be broken. others will only eat IF the egg is broken. you can get roll out nesting boxes...or make your own to hide the eggs so they dont' see them, pick the eggs up multiple times a day....but one thing that you should do is remove the egg eater from the coop before she teaches everyone that eggs are yummy! others you just can't break.

Problem: Identifying the egg-eater and the soft layer!
If I need to supplement with calcium, that says to me - Red Sex-Links need more calcium in their diet than Black Sex-Links. Because there is calcium in the laying mash. Ergo... I will save egg shells, boil, dry, then crush them and put it in their feed.

It could just be the line too that needs more calcium....chickens are like people. some people are b12 deficient, some arent. some chickens are better at getting calcium from the diet, and some arent. so it might just be the line of chickens, or a couple of them....

Do you have any white golf balls? i identified 2 egg eaters by rolling a white golf ball across the floor. most of my birds were WTH is that?! but the egg eaters ran right over and pecked at it to try to break it.
you can also try just putting golf balls into the nesting boxes, sometimes if they can't break them, they'll quit trying....but in my experience they just hammer on everything until something breaks, but at least i can id the eater....

You "need" to give them oyster shells if you are not already doing that, or the feed stores have other choices like calcium chips (my hens hated those). Think of the amount of calcium each poor hen has to put out every day. I fed it free choice and I almost never had a shell-less egg even when the hens would first start laying. Like the other people said, once certain hens start it is hard to stop them.

I give mine free-choice oyster shell and I also crush their eggshells to leave out free-choice. Some of my hens won't touch the oyster shell, but do like the crushed eggshells. Also I give them plenty of kale, Swiss chard and beet greens during the growing season - they're a good supplemental source of calcium.
I had plans for several DIY roll-away nest boxes at one time, but I'm not sure where I stored them. If I find them, I will post them.

ETA a couple of DIY links:
http://www.southernagrarian.com/buildin ... -nest-box/
http://greenmachinefarm.com/rollout-nest-boxes/

I couldn't find my favourite one of course. It was the one that suggested attaching foam pipe insulation to the back of the egg catchment area, in order to provide cushioning when the egg reaches the end of the roll.

All the egg shells here get dried and crushed and fed back...they disappear fast.

I use decoys in the nest box. Golf balls and round rocks. Once in a while thin shell egg gets eaten, but not a regular problem. I think that they learn young that it doesn't really work.

To identify, look for yellow yolk on the beak. If identified, I use a side cutter to blunt the beak some, but not like the hatchery ones that come almost de beaked. I don't like that.

WLLady wrote:QR_BBPOST It could just be the line too that needs more calcium....chickens are like people. some people are b12 deficient, some arent. some chickens are better at getting calcium from the diet, and some arent. so it might just be the line of chickens, or a couple of them....

Do you have any white golf balls? i identified 2 egg eaters by rolling a white golf ball across the floor. most of my birds were WTH is that?! but the egg eaters ran right over and pecked at it to try to break it.
you can also try just putting golf balls into the nesting boxes, sometimes if they can't break them, they'll quit trying....but in my experience they just hammer on everything until something breaks, but at least i can id the eater....

Yes, I already have golf balls in each of the nesting boxes. Our Black hens were our first pullets and they needed the guidance to lay in the nesting boxes.
I think I'll try rolling the ball in the yard and see what happens.

Farrier1987 wrote:QR_BBPOST I use decoys in the nest box. Golf balls and round rocks. Once in a while thin shell egg gets eaten, but not a regular problem. I think that they learn young that it doesn't really work.

To identify, look for yellow yolk on the beak. If identified, I use a side cutter to blunt the beak some, but not like the hatchery ones that come almost de beaked. I don't like that.

All of our chickens came from the hatchery, so all of their beaks are trimmed. But I'll look for the yolked beak.