The Mcconnochies Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Hi all...I thought things were going well with our girls with a fairly quiet couple of months but I spoke too soon... I just spotted an egg that had been laid outside the nesting box being eaten by teh chickens. It has sparked off a bit of a fight and feeding frenzy. I couldn't see who laid it and I had a quick check and none of their vents seem injured. So, is this normal behaviour and if not what do i need to do about it? Is it likely to be an isolated incident? Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savena5630 Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Hi there, It's not yet happened to me, touch wood, however I've spoken to a lot of people who have experienced it. It seems that, in most cases, once chickens get a taste of their yummy eggs - which is also an excellent source of protein for them! - they will continue to do so. A good tip is to either buy a 'fake' egg, or make a small hole in a real egg, and drain out the contents, and fill the inside with hot chilli powder. The next time they try and go for their own eggs, they will associate it with chilli, and hopefully stop this behaviour! Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
good_egg Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Don't panic! Hens test the quality of their eggs after they have laid them (learnt that on here) and if they are not up to scratch they will break and it is natural behaviour to eat these. That said they can get a taste for them so I would be tempted to remove the egg asap. I would suspect that having been laid int he run this might be a softie or something so this behaviour is not unusual. It happened to my girls a lot when Viv was laying thin shelled eggs and when they were starting off - no one ever touched Coco's proper eggs though. So I would say, watch and be wary but no need for concern yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenthelibrarian Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I'd very much agree with good_egg on this. One of my hens recently laid a softie right out in the middle of the lawn, which promptly broke. I ran indoors for kitchen roll to clean up but by the time I got back they'd scoffed the lot They have never deliberately broken an egg with a 'proper' shell. We found that baked shells [put them in the cooling oven when you've cooked something else] finely ground and added to something like mashed spud or porridge, or 'glued' onto chopped veg/rice with a spoon of yoghurt, so that they can't pick it out, has helped cure the softies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mcconnochies Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 Thanks everyone... I'll keep an eye on them and see if there are any other softies. The other eggs laid today were left in the nesting box so all looks well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
