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Last Updated on July 29 , 2023
Are your crybaby eating their own eggs ? Yikes ! What an plaguy mess , eh ? Once a chicken begin eating ball , it can be a very bad anddifficult habit to smash . peculiarly if they learn their friends to do it too ! I experience from experience – a couple of our chickens started eat eggs last year . An egg broke in the nest box , they make a fiddling taste , and it was all downhill from there … That is , until we were able to successfully stop their egg - eating conduct !
understand along to larn how to forestall and hold back chickens from run through their own eggs . Egg - feeding is n’t as affected as you think – chickens sometimes corrode their own eggs in the wilderness ! Yet it can also be a signal that there is a serious issue in your backyard tidy sum , and thereforeshouldn’t go ignored . Egg - eating can also make a heavy sticky hatful of their nesting box seat or feathers , and attract pestilence . If you trust on fresh eggs as a source of ego - sufficient food or income , make an egg - eating wimp in your flock can be detrimental !
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9 Ways to Stop Chickens from Eating Their Eggs
1) Assess their diet
Chickens eating eggs could be a planetary house that they are experiencing a nutritionary insufficiency or imbalance . egg are loaded withprotein , and the shell are made up of almost purecalcium . These two thing are essential to a chicken ’s diet and overall good health . If chickens are n’t get enough of either , they may turn to eating their own testis to counterbalance .
Ensure your chickens are squander passable protein by providing a chicken provender that is formulated for laying hen . Mostlayer feedcontains 16 to 18 % percent protein . We oftenferment our Gallus gallus provender , which provides probiotics and increase nutrient absorption too !
Also , limit dainty to an occasional cornerstone only . We give our girls leafy William Green from the garden , but also incorporate mickle of protein - rich treats likemealworms , black oil sunflower seed , orhome - shoot seedsand grains . you may also shin up some eggs to feed in back to your chickens .
2) Promote healthy, strong eggshells
Laying hens need a regular provision offree choice calciumavailable to them at all times . This is crucial ! Because eggshells are so high in calcium themselves , laying hens involve to ingest a substantial amount of supplemental calcium to repose hard , healthy eggs with loyal shells .
Chickens may eat eggs if they are n’t pose enough calcium elsewhere . Insufficient calcium consumption can also lead tosoft - husk eggsor fragile shell , which are more likely to crack – and then lure even the goodly , rummy poulet to consume egg ! Even worse , too little atomic number 20 can cause a chicken to become testis - bound . Therefore , offering extra calcium is a great way to prevent egg - eating demeanor as well as sickness .
Either purchasecrushed oyster shells , or make unnecessary and crush their own eggshells . Offer calcium in a dish disjoined from their food ; they deplete what they need ( and too much atomic number 20 can harm them too ) . I know what you may be recall … Doesn’t feeding chickens their own eggshells make them more likely to rust eggs?No , the vast bulk of experient chicken keepers say it does not . Webake and crushthe eggshells before feed them , which kills potential bacteria and also change the odor and flavor of the shells … just in vitrine .
Related : How to feast wimp Crushed Eggshells ( or Oyster Shells ) for Essential Calcium
3) Collect eggs often
Chickens ca n’t eat eggs that are n’t there ! Do n’t let egg sit around in the nestle boxes for an extended period of time . pull in eggs as often as your schedule allow ( up to several time per day ) – especially if you ’re prove to break away egg - eating behavior that has already grow . A swelled pile of eggs is just begging to be messed with , and can increase the likelihood of your chickens becoming broody . There is also a greater chance for eggs to crack and erupt when they ’re laid on top of one another .
4) Provide cushioned nesting areas
Have you ever view a biddy lay an nut ? Even though they sit down down for quite a while beforehand , they support up and squat when the testis comes out , so it has to fall several inches before it hit the ground ! If the bottom of the nesting boxwood is hard and expose , the orchis could give way – and one crushed egg may be all it takes for a chicken to originate a taste for them .
Line the bottom of the cage nesting boxes withsoft materialfor the eggs to bring down on . We usethese durable nesting boxwood domiciliation , and ordinarily add a layer of straw or hay on top for them to dig around in too . If an bollock does break , clean it up promptly !
5) Dummy eggs in nest box
If your chickens begin to peck at their own eggs , prove put a grueling dummy egg or two inside the nesting boxes . Golf balls orthese fake Sir Henry Wood eggswork well ! When they go to take a peck , they ’ll find the “ egg ” heavy – and will hopefully give up trying to peck the real egg too . place fake eggs inside the snuggle box is also an efficacious way to prepare young chickens on where to lay eggs .
6) Nest box curtains (dark or dim nesting area)
Did you get laid that chickens ca n’t see in the dark ? That ’s why they instinctively lead into the coop to roost at nightfall . So , they are far less probable to peck and use up eggs that they ca n’t see well . One way to darken the nesting box area is to set up nest box curtains . This trick was themost successfulmeasure to stop our poulet from eating egg !
you could create cute little mini - drapery on rods , or do something as simple as stick old fabric napkins or trim back pillowcases in front of the nest box opening . Valance curtainsare already about the correct height , and can easily be cut and hemmed into forgetful sections .
When first installed , you may need to keep the curtain rend orpinned part openuntil your wimp get used to them . Later , we ascertain that leaving ours totally closed in was the most effective at break off the orchis eating . They push right past them to get in and out .
7) Soap and mustard
Wait , what did I just eat?!Apparently chicken hate the taste of mustard . Plus , who would want to use up soap ? Not our bird . Another previous trick used to stop chicken from consume testis is tofill an empty eggshell with dish soap and mustard(which also hap to mimic the smell of gooey bollock Andrew Dickson White and yolk ) .
utilize an egg that has been peck at with a small hole , empty it out , occupy it up , and put it back in the nesting corner for your ball - eating chicken to try . Or , cautiously blow out an orchis to fill . Hopefully the nasty surprise will turn them off for trade good !
8) Provide plenty of space and entertainment
Keeping your batch happy and harbor is a fantastical agency to both prevent and stop crybaby from eating eggs . Bored , crowded , or otherwise dysphoric birds are far more likely to embark on pecking at nut – and each other ! Provide roosts , ample blank space , andboredom - busterssuch as hangingtreat blocks , volaille swings , or hang chou ‘ tether balls ’ to keep them interfering .
9) Roll-away or sloped nest boxes
A last measure to stop chickens from run through testicle is to make the eggs disappear altogether . When all else fails , you could create splash nesting box where the bollock ramble away andout of neb ’s reachafter they ’re lay . I take this a last haunt – not because it is extreme , but because change your perfectly right volaille henhouse could be a pain in the butt ! Yet so are ball - eating chicken … so if necessary , raw - and - improved nest boxes may be the result .
And that concludes the top tricks to prevent or stop an egg-eater.
All in all , do your best to preclude your chickens from eating nut in the first place – with a healthy dieting , frequent egg gathering , and ample space to play . If they do start pecking at eggs , I trust these tips serve you chop-chop nip that unsound substance abuse in the bud ! As we did , you may need to try several technique to stop egg - wipe out behavior before you find something that works . Be patient and persistent .
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