MaxBaz Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 At a loss - in the three years since I have had my varying batches of girls - I have never had trouble with egg pecking. Now all of a sudden it has started. Appears to be more than just the one girl. If a softie has been laid, they have always got involved then, but never actually cracking/breaking a "real egg" until the last fortnight or so, what should I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 An egg may have accidently got stood on and then eaten, which the hens may have found very tasty and started to do on purpose. Or could there have been something happen to upset one or all of them? One of my girls gets very upset by the arrival of new hens (even when they are separated and not mixing with the old girls) which causes her to break and eat her eggs. She has done this on a couple of separate occasions and both times I sorted the problem by blowing out an egg, filling it with mustard and placing it back in the nest box for the hens to find, yukky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS1 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 One of my ex-batts does this from time to time. I've managed to break the habit previously by putting china eggs in the nesting box but I think I'm going to have to try the mustard method this time. I wonder how old your hens are? My original hybrids and ex-batts are 2.5 to three years old now and shell quality is poor, so she has no problem pecking into them. So far, my new young girls' (hard-shelled) eggs are untouched, I think, but then I am checking every couple of hours! There's a thread running elsewhere on rollaway nesting boxes (in the Eggs section) if all else fails! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 One they develop a taste for them, it is a hard habit to break. I posted the thread about Rollaway Nest boxes and have been bery pleased with them. The problem is cured now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
