All laying very well, but all enjoying an egg each for tea!

[Egg Head]

Hi All

Hope your all well? I've not been on here for a long time as I've been very busy roasting pigs all summer.

Here's my problem. In my naivety earlier in the year I would feed my hens all our scraps in the morning. After a good feed the hens obviously didn't really bother with the layers pellets. As a result the quality of the shells suffered and became very thin. You guessed it, a few started to break and the hens discovered the joys of a fresh egg.

I stopped with the scraps completely and they soon started back on the layers again. They trouble is they still keep eating all the eggs. If I'm lucky I might get one yolk covered egg from 6 birds. Checking for eggs at regular intervals isn't possible as they are kept on our allotment. Tried the mustard trick but that didn't work.

It's now got to the point of having to make the decision of getting ride of the birds humanly and starting again. I dearly love my hens but can't justify the journeys to and from the allotment each morning and evening and cost of pellets, bedding and diatom for nothing in return.

Is there anything I can do before calling in the vet? I've been putting it off for a while now but with winter coming I need to be making the decision.

HELP

Matt

[Totally Scrambled]

Morning Matt,
Could you buy or make rollaway nest boxes so that they lay the egg and it rolls away where they can't get to it and then you could collect at your leisure.
Dom

[Grannyof4]

You can't just kill the birds for this reason IMO anyway. Find the culprit, it may not be all of them. A rollaway nest box would definitely be the answer.

[bluebell]

Hi Matt, sorry to hear you are having a problem with egg eating.

The mustard trick has always worked for me, would it be perhaps an idea to put some golf balls or fake eggs in the nest boxes, so that they soon realise that occasionally they will end up with a headache and not always get a yolk at the end of the day. The rollaway box is a good idea, but not always the cheapest solution.

Personally, I would go back to doing mustard in a couple of eggs, put them in the nest boxes. When you were giving mustard eggs before, were they at least breaking into them and getting mustard on their beaks? If not, make sure you blow the eggs, syringe mustard into them and tape the holes back up so the egg appears whole - sorry if you think I am trying to teach my granny to suck eggs (scuse pun), but anything worth a try than getting rid of your chooks.

Granny, is right chances are there is just one or two culprits.

[Egg Head]

Thanks for the idea on the roll away thing will investigate it straight away.

The trouble is they all do it. I've catch them at it a few time. I went down and the were no hens in the run and I thought my foxy had got them. Opened the pen and they were all in there eating an egg covered in yolk. They even all follow a each other into the house just in case an eggs being laid.

[Kernow]

I haven't heard of a "rollaway" nest box (new to chicken keeping- that's my excuse) is there a diagram or plans anywhere? The whole concept seems a good idea to me.

[Egg Head]

Is this the sort of thing?

http://www.chicken-house.co.uk/acatalog ... serts.html

[wendy]

When mine did it. I tried the mustard thing and it didn't work for me either.
I then raised the nest box.
It was that they could just step into it. Now they have to jump up into and out of it. That has stopped it and never had the problem since.
Unless, of course, if was thin shelled and broke on it's own.
Wendy

[Egg Head]

Who high did you raise it Wendy? Knowing mine they'd just go an lay somewhere else.....

I really want to get this situation sorted out. Not least I'm missing my eggs and just can't bring myself to buy shop eggs.

[Mo]

A few years ago another member solved the problem by raising one edge of the nest box and making a little shelf/bench to hide the egg when it rolled down the slope. here is the start of the story and , after much vilification and 'don't do it' from other members here is the solution.
Hope it works for you.
I've had it too and know how frustrating it is. That solution worked for me.
Of course you have to take the straw out of the nest for the egg to roll.

[Egg Head]

Just off to homebase now. Fingers crossed!