I’m calling it the Case of the Missing Eggs.
Ever since our three hens first got a taste of egg when one broke in their pen, an occasional egg has disappeared from their midst. A patch of soggy bedding with bits of shell mixed in is all the evidence I need that at least one of the girls has been feasting on forbidden goodies.
The good news, such as it is, is that not all of our chickens are chowing down on eggs. In fact, it seems as though only one of the girls is partaking, and only occasionally at that.
One day recently, for example, the hens laid two eggs, both of which I found intact. The same thing happened the next day. But the day after that, the girls laid three eggs, only two of which were undamaged. Not so the third one, which someone gobbled up, leaving behind the telltale shell bits mentioned above.
This leads me to suspect that only one of the hens is purloining eggs, and only her own at that. If two or three hens were noshing, more eggs would disappear more often. The same would be true if even one hen was routinely eating all of the eggs she could find.
Still, the problem remains. What to do? When someone else posted that question at backyardchickens.com, folks had plenty of suggestions, but offered no guarantees.
One idea (which I’m trying even as you read this) is to put wooden eggs in the nest box where the hens lay their eggs, so the offender, thinking the decoys are the real deal, will get a sore beak from biting into a chunk of wood. The theory is that will dissuade her from pecking at real eggs in the future. (I think I hear chickens laughing in the background, but maybe it’s my imagination.)
Other ideas include collecting eggs as quickly as possible to eliminate temptation; giving hens crushed oyster shells (which I already include in their diet) to assure that they get enough calcium without eating eggs; and allowing an egg-munching chicken to free range, so she won’t eat eggs out of boredom. You can even insert hot sauce into a hollowed out egg and then put it back into the nest box. (A bit sadistic-sounding, that one.)
All of these suggestions may have merit, but there was one reader-submitted idea at backyardchickens.com that I refuse to consider. When asked how to stop a hen from eating eggs, someone responded, perhaps tongue in beak: “With a hatchet.”
Ever since our three hens first got a taste of egg when one broke in their pen, an occasional egg has disappeared from their midst. A patch of soggy bedding with bits of shell mixed in is all the evidence I need that at least one of the girls has been feasting on forbidden goodies.
The good news, such as it is, is that not all of our chickens are chowing down on eggs. In fact, it seems as though only one of the girls is partaking, and only occasionally at that.
One day recently, for example, the hens laid two eggs, both of which I found intact. The same thing happened the next day. But the day after that, the girls laid three eggs, only two of which were undamaged. Not so the third one, which someone gobbled up, leaving behind the telltale shell bits mentioned above.
This leads me to suspect that only one of the hens is purloining eggs, and only her own at that. If two or three hens were noshing, more eggs would disappear more often. The same would be true if even one hen was routinely eating all of the eggs she could find.
Still, the problem remains. What to do? When someone else posted that question at backyardchickens.com, folks had plenty of suggestions, but offered no guarantees.
One idea (which I’m trying even as you read this) is to put wooden eggs in the nest box where the hens lay their eggs, so the offender, thinking the decoys are the real deal, will get a sore beak from biting into a chunk of wood. The theory is that will dissuade her from pecking at real eggs in the future. (I think I hear chickens laughing in the background, but maybe it’s my imagination.)
Other ideas include collecting eggs as quickly as possible to eliminate temptation; giving hens crushed oyster shells (which I already include in their diet) to assure that they get enough calcium without eating eggs; and allowing an egg-munching chicken to free range, so she won’t eat eggs out of boredom. You can even insert hot sauce into a hollowed out egg and then put it back into the nest box. (A bit sadistic-sounding, that one.)
All of these suggestions may have merit, but there was one reader-submitted idea at backyardchickens.com that I refuse to consider. When asked how to stop a hen from eating eggs, someone responded, perhaps tongue in beak: “With a hatchet.”
No comments:
Post a Comment