Why do laying hens eat their eggs? Reasons and what to do if chickens peck eggs, methods for solving the problem

Every day, more and more poultry farmers are faced with the question: “The chicken is pecking at the eggs, what should I do?” This problem is quite common, and its causes are obvious. So why do chickens peck their eggs? The answer to this question is revealed below.

Why do chickens peck eggs? This behavior primarily indicates that the chicken does not have enough calcium in its body and it replenishes its supply by eating eggshells. To prevent chickens from pecking eggs, you need to add calcium supplements to their diet. In most cases, you can limit yourself to lump chalk, leaving it in places where birds feed. Another option is to crush the eggshells and then simply serve “instead of dessert.” However, the above option has its drawbacks: adding shells to the bird’s diet can make it addictive, and the chicken will never stop pecking at its own “products” while eating its favorite dish.

Particular attention should be paid to the area where poultry usually spend their time. They may simply not have enough territory, while their soul requires a walk. It is popularly believed that in such cases the chicken “gets offended” and begins to peck the eggs. To solve the above problem, you just need to expand the yard and cultivate it; Fresh grass must be present.

The desire to peck at “home-produced products” may depend on the breed. There are some breeds that simply cannot be kept in a classical manner due to their aggressiveness. In this case, the chickens have their beaks trimmed (de-beaking).

According to some farmers, one of the reasons for chickens pecking at eggs may be the taste of the yolk and white, which they love. Once having tasted the egg (and this, as a rule, happens completely by accident), the chicken cannot deny itself the pleasure.

What to do

Answers to the question: “How to stop a chicken from pecking eggs?” there are plenty. The most effective option is considered to be feeding birds with river sand, wood ash, chalk or dried nettles. At the same time, there is the so-called “old-fashioned method”: you need to knead a tight dough from flour and salted water, and then roll it into a ball, giving it the appropriate (egg-shaped) shape. Attention should be paid to the size of the resulting dummy - it should correspond to a chicken egg. Then this “culinary masterpiece” should be left to dry in a warm place, and when it dries and hardens, it should be placed in the nest. Chickens, having pecked the dummy several times unsuccessfully, will no longer peck eggs at all.

Also, to prevent chickens from pecking eggs, you can make a different type of dummy: carefully remove the contents from the whole product, dry it and fill it with mustard, hot pepper or vinegar. The hole, in turn, needs to be made small so that the contents of the dummy do not leak out. To do this you need to use a syringe with a needle.

If out of all the chickens only one is a “pest”, then you can isolate it or “use it for meat”. Such an individual can be identified by the remains of the yolk on the beak. If several chickens peck at eggs, they must be immediately isolated from the flock for 2 weeks. During this entire period they need to be “kept in custody” and fed with special supplements with vitamins and calcium.

Previously, in villages, to prevent chickens from pecking eggs, they were simply given slaughterhouse waste from time to time. All that was left after slaughtering domestic animals and cutting up their carcasses. You can give chickens lamb, pork or beef fat. The “dose” is about 0.5 kilograms per 25 chickens per week until the desired effect is achieved. Slaughterhouse waste can also be given as a preventive measure.

Also, to prevent chickens from pecking eggs, you need to quickly collect them and eggshells, but this requires a huge amount of effort. The nest can be “decorated” with an additional hole so that the egg rolls into a tray secured under the nest. In this case, the chickens will not peck the eggs, since they will be inaccessible.

Equipped nest with gutter and egg reservoir

Proper arrangement of nesting sites

One of the options aimed at weaning chickens from eating eggs is to review the conditions under which they are kept. So, the foundation of a proper and comfortable chicken coop setup is the construction of comfortable nests. An improper nest can be one of the reasons why chickens peck at eggs. Also, special attention should be paid to lighting; it should not blind the birds. Light bulbs, if used, should emit dim light. If you can’t darken the space, you need to cover the lamp at least halfway with a curtain or simple burlap. The roost should not be placed high near the ceiling. It’s also not worth saving space, since closely spaced nests can lead to laying hens destroying and pecking at the clutches, “coming to visit each other.” The small space forces the hens to step on the eggs, and if it breaks, they will undoubtedly peck it!

The peculiarities of keeping chickens in winter are characterized by the fact that they do not receive the required amount of ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun. As a result, the amount of vitamin D in the chickens’ body decreases, and it plays an important role in the process of phosphorus-calcium metabolism. The balance of calcium and phosphorus in the body of chickens ensures the strength of the shells of eggs and the bones of the bird itself. When calcium levels in the body decrease, hens become lame, have difficulty walking and lay eggs with very thin shells, and sometimes without shells at all. Calcium, without vitamin D, has no beneficial effect on the chicken’s body, since it is poorly absorbed. Therefore, it makes sense to install a UV lamp in the chicken coop.

Why do chickens peck eggs? Perhaps the reason for this is the lack of protein in the diet of laying hens. In spring and summer, chickens have the opportunity to supplement their diet with natural protein by eating worms and insects. In winter they are deprived of this opportunity. The protein contained in plant-based feeds cannot meet the protein needs of birds. For a laying hen in winter, good range and variety of grains are not enough; it requires a minimum of 5-6 grams of protein per day. In the diet, first of all, you need to include the required amount of protein in the form of meat and bone or fish meal, low-fat cottage cheese and fortified minerals. Also, to prevent chickens from pecking eggs, it is necessary to introduce green grass or vitamin-rich grass hay, carrots, beets, pumpkin, cabbage, potatoes into their diet - they contain a lot of vitamins and carbohydrates.

"Pasture"

Experienced poultry farmers say that the pecking of eggs by chickens depends on the productivity of their walks. Chickens should be grazed in a sufficiently large enclosure, where vegetation and (preferably) sand or small pebbles must be present. Laying hens should have the opportunity to calmly peck grass on a spacious lawn, and not crowd in one place with a dozen “friends”. If it is not possible to make a separate large pen for poultry, then you need to release the chickens into the open area once a day. Laying hens must run around, peck the grass and stock up on proteins in the form of midges and worms.

Summarize. Answers to the question “Why do chickens peck their eggs?” There can be many, as well as, reasons for this unprofitable habit in chickens. Follow the above rules and your birds will not be tempted to peck their eggs.

Video “What to do if chickens peck eggs”

The video examines one of the reasons for chickens pecking eggs, and gives advice on how to prevent this problem.

There are many reasons why chickens peck eggs, so you need to figure out the problem in time and decide what to do. A number of tips and recommendations will help determine the cause of the problem. Then they begin to eliminate it: adjust the diet, make adjustments to the conditions of detention. Preventative measures will help prevent the problem from reoccurring.

You can quickly deal with the problem only if you identify the root cause.

Improper feeding

The most important factor is improper or unbalanced nutrition:

A lack of vitamins, particularly calcium, causes chickens to eat their eggs. Another sign of calcium deficiency is that their shells become thin and brittle.
Poor quality or spoiled food, lack of greens, feeding of prohibited foods also causes the problem.
Changes in diet.
The presence of shell residues with white and yolk in food. It is permissible to give shells to chickens, but only as part of mash. It is first washed, dried and crushed.

Attacks of aggression

Some laying hens peck eggs not due to the lack of any vitamins in the body, but because they are harmful. Such chickens often deliberately crush eggs, attack other chickens, and are intolerant of proximity to other individuals. Aggression is aggravated by lack of food and non-compliance with living conditions.

External factors

The behavior of chickens can be influenced by external factors:

violation of light or temperature conditions leads to birds cracking eggs and drinking the contents;
the presence of pests in the chicken coop, such as mites, feather eaters;
In winter, a common reason is the lack of bird walking;
chickens eat eggs in nests due to cramped indoor conditions.

How to find out what the reasons are?

Advice from experienced poultry farmers will help identify the problem. Routine observation of poultry behavior will help.

A laying hen that engages in sabotage is often in the chicken coop, sitting near the nests, waiting for a fresh batch. As soon as the chicken is identified, it is moved to another place for two weeks. At the same time, they try one of the effective methods of weaning from pecking eggs.

How to stop chickens from pecking eggs?

Sometimes it is enough to make adjustments to your diet, and the problem goes away. But in some cases you have to fight in other ways.

Proper nutrition

The chicken diet should include additional components:

The daily menu should include products such as fishmeal, low-fat cottage cheese, milk;
Once a week it is useful to give the offal of a slaughtered animal;
every day you need to add a little salt, nettle, crushed shell rock to the bird’s food;
legumes and alfalfa are useful in small quantities;
a mash based on grated boiled vegetables will compensate for the lack of vitamins;
It is useful to give a few grams of beef, lamb or pork fat.

In the warm season, the bird should eat a lot of fresh greens.

Pharmacy drugs

In some advanced cases, it is necessary to resort to medications. Treatment is carried out with such means as “Ryabushka”, “Laying Layer”, “Vitaminol”, “Biovetin”, “Methionine”.

Traditional methods

Sometimes it is possible to solve the problem using folk methods:

lining in the nest of a round-shaped dummy made of wood, stone or salt dough;
Lining the nests of tennis balls helps.

If folk remedies do not help, medications or more radical measures come to the rescue.

Improving conditions of detention

You should also check the living conditions that are organized for poultry:

The nest should be free of any debris, straw or other objects. On a flat surface it is more difficult to catch an egg that will constantly roll away.
Nests should be located at the level of human height, establishing an approach to them in the form of stairs.
Laying hen nests should not be close to each other.
You can build nests in such a way that the egg gently rolls into a separate compartment.

Lighting rules

The room should have white, dim lighting. The nests themselves should be located in the most shaded corners of the chicken coop.

In the dark, the chickens will not be able to see the eggs, and the pecking will stop.
It is necessary to take care of the length of daylight hours. For this purpose, windows are made in the room and additional lamps are installed in winter.
Walking conditions and enclosure sizes
Stress in birds is caused by rare exposure to the street and insufficient space for walking.
It is genetically determined that chickens must obtain their own food. Therefore, they can often be found eating grass, small insects or pebbles. If the walking area is small, then the chickens do not have this opportunity. Gradually, the chickens become irritable and peck at their eggs.
In order for the chicken to run around as much as possible and not be interested in pecking at its eggs, you need to organize a large enclosure. On average there should be 1 square meter per 4 birds. m. The larger the space, the better.
Make a fake egg
Sometimes a device in the form of a rounded dummy helps. A small hole is made in a real egg and the contents are drawn out using a syringe. Then a solution with vinegar or pepper is poured inside and the hole is sealed with plasticine. The finished specimen is placed in the nest.
Decaying birds
Some chicken breeds are aggressive in nature, so the only solution is to de-beak. The procedure involves cutting off part of the bird's beak with special tools.
Prevention of egg pecking
Preventive measures will help prevent egg pecking:
provide a complete diet in accordance with the season;
enrich the menu with products rich in vitamin and mineral complexes;
the chicken coop must be kept clean and dry;

The main purpose of chicken breeding is obtaining egg products And. Therefore, the number of eggs laid, as well as their safety, plays an important role here. But if you dealt with the first question already during the selection and acquisition of a certain breed of laying hens, then the second may be relevant for quite a long time. So, why do chickens peck eggs and how to deal with this phenomenon?

Why do chickens peck their eggs?

Causes of egg pecking maybe a lot. The main ones are those listed below.

Unbalanced diet. Keeping chickens in a homestead requires appropriate nutrition, which must be balanced and as varied as possible. Each adult should receive the following types of nutrients:

Protein is a very important element that participates in the structure of the body and is part of a chicken egg. Protein is found in animal products (fish waste, bone meal, amphibians and shellfish), canola, sunflowers and soybeans.
Fats are deposited under the skin of the bird and are the basis of its energy reserves. This element can be obtained from oats, corn and grains.
Carbohydrates are involved in the formation of muscle tissue. Chickens need to be given carrots, fodder beets, potatoes, pumpkin, and grain.
Minerals are involved in all body processes and support the life of chickens. Microelements are found in small shells, bone meal, wood ash, lime, etc.

Why does a chicken peck its eggs: reasons

Cellular content

Despite many advantages, this method of keeping birds has a significant drawback: lack of free space can lead to eggs pecking. As a rule, cage housing is widely practiced in large farms in order to save square meters. At the same time, the majority of chicken flock owners do not even realize that the reason for egg pecking may be improper nest location. For example, if the nest is close to the ceiling, the hen may peck at her eggs and feed on them. Why do chickens peck eggs?

It's all about the special structure of the body: if a bird has at least once tasted even an accidentally crushed testicle, it will peck at all the others in order to feast on the product it likes. This process must be stopped as soon as possible. In our case, it is to provide the chickens with comfortable living conditions. Need to do spacious paddock and place nests out of sight (birds need privacy).

Calcium and vitamin D deficiency

Unbalanced diet, namely the lack of vitamin D and calcium in it, is one of the main reasons for the destruction of laid eggs by chickens. In this case, it is necessary to enrich the food with the following ingredients containing calcium:

Calcium gluconate;
bone flour;
calcium hydroxide;
shell rock

Chickens peck their eggs: what to do?

There are the following ways to prevent eggs from pecking:

Detecting an Egg Eater

To reveal the dirty trick it is necessary to carefully examine each individual, or rather, its beak and head. You can easily find dried yolk on the culprit's head feathers and beak.

If you are unable to identify the criminal in this way, you can try making false egg. This is done very simply - you need to empty the shell of its contents and fill it with food coloring. Naturally, eater's beak will turn into the color of the paint that was inside the shell.

Prevention measures

To prevent testicular pecking, the following preventive measures must be taken:

Provide birds with complete nutritious feed - this is one of the main conditions for preventing pecking.
Avoid excessive contamination of the litter and clear nests of debris.
Make sure your bird is getting the calcium it needs. In this case you will be able to protect the testicles from pecking and maintain the integrity of the shell.
Don't starve chickens.
Remove eggs in a timely manner from nests.
Keep your chickens busy with something more exciting. For example, you can offer to peck pumpkins or apples, rake compost, etc.

Pecking eggs- this is a rather serious problem for the owner of a private farmstead. However, the situation is easy to fix. To do this, you should take maximum care of your birds, take preventive measures and apply the above methods in combination. In this way, you can ensure excellent productivity of your farm.

Attention, TODAY only!

Homemade eggs are valued higher than store-bought eggs for their more environmentally friendly and healthy product. The visual difference between such products is usually determined by the color of the yolk. In a homemade egg it is clearly expressed and has a rich orange color, but the store-bought egg is pale in color and, importantly, has a big difference in taste. Poultry is bred specifically to produce tasty products, but sometimes there are unpleasant surprises during egg collection. Having suddenly discovered a pecked egg, you need to find the cause of this disgrace.

Reasons for birds pecking at your own product

Previously, peasants explained such a sign as spoilage of eggs by saying that the bird was offended by the owner for poor care and feeding and now repays the same. One of the reasons may also be the limited size of the paddock and the lack of vegetation on it.

Insufficient amount of calcium in the individual’s body. This may be at least the main reason, so you should take care of adding such an important component to your diet. When examined, the shell itself will be thin and fragile, and this additionally indicates a lack of calcium.
Poor, poor quality or often spoiled food. A large amount of pre-prepared mash is not quickly fed to the farm and often leads to souring of the products. Wet grain, accordingly, also has the ability to deteriorate. Further use of the missing food is unacceptable for feeding to individuals.

If by chance it happens that the egg breaks, then the bird, being an omnivorous creature, will immediately begin to examine it with curiosity and try to eat it. If you like the taste of the product, it will definitely serve as a basis for further actions, such as searching for something delicious and eating it; besides, it will serve as an example for others.

The nests are located at a very close distance from each other. In a crowd, a laying hen could simply accidentally step on her own or a neighbor’s egg, but, as a rule, such cases are rare.

The harmful nature of the bird can also cause aggressive behavior towards the clutch and other individuals. Due to its harmfulness, it will specifically crush the eggs rather than from a lack of something in the body.

Important! Some of the breeds are too aggressive and the only solution to this will be de-beaking, that is, trimming with nippers or a special tool.

Decaying of birds. File for download

Decaying birds

Many housewives, without knowing it, themselves provoke her to pecking at their products. First, the shells are collected and then given along with food and food waste, and the bird quickly gets used to the taste and smell of food and, without its presence, will look for a familiar food option on its own. You can give it, but first you should wash the shells and dry them, thereby ridding them of the characteristic odor, and only then grind them and mix them into food.

Calculation problem

It is difficult to identify the pest, but with some observation it is possible. Her constant or frequent presence in the chicken coop near the nests will give her away; she will be there waiting for a treat. You should place her separately from the others and try to wean her off for about two weeks, using several methods. It is especially worth applying such measures if it produced a lot of products, then it is not worth immediately solving the problem by destroying it. If such individuals cannot eventually correct themselves and return to their old ways, then they will quickly go straight to meat, otherwise others will behave in the same way. As a rule, a bad example is contagious.

Methods for solving the problem

A decoy in the form of medium-sized plastic balls. They are placed in the laying areas, but at the same time they are intensively fed with minerals, calcium and other useful foods.
Imitation of a dough product. Dissolve a lot of salt in warm water and mix the salted water with flour to a stiff consistency. Next, we create an image of a parsley product from the dough and dry it thoroughly. As a result, we get a dry, hard oval that tastes very unpleasant and we put our creation in the nest. A useless attempt to try a treat will become impossible and thus interest in this activity will disappear.
Make a dummy, but here you will have to be careful and spend some time making it. Make a hole in the natural product from the sludge and blunt sides and blow out the contents, or remove the filling from one side of the hole using a syringe. The goal of the experiment is a natural look with a false filling. The filling can be in the form of vinegar and fill it with a syringe with a needle, or hot pepper diluted with water. Next, use a small piece of plasticine or other available material to rub the holes made so that everything does not leak out ahead of time.

As before, and to this day, many, whenever possible, feed slaughterhouse residues and waste, that is, everything that is no longer needed after the slaughter of large animals. You can also sometimes add about half a kilo of fat to the food for two dozen individuals.

Another option is the prompt collection of products, and if there are any leftovers from the products. Of course, constant patrolling will be impossible, but if time allows, you can try. Don’t forget about the usefulness of shellfish and fine gravel in the diet.

Video - An effective way to stop chickens from pecking eggs

Effective solution to the problem

If your attempt to identify the bully was unsuccessful, do not be upset. Place chalk rounds in a walking area or in a room, three at a time; they will attract the attention of individuals and thereby replenish their supply of necessary elements.

Important! Do not arrange the rounds into nests. The bird may be confused with its products if they are white.

Advice! If you have chalk in powder form, mix it with a small amount of water and make your own lumps.

With some effort, you can build a cunning nest yourself. The trick is to equip it with a chute and a reservoir for collecting products.

Another method for converting a nest is to slope it and have a hole in the middle of the nest, and then a hidden trench with a smooth slope and containers for assembling products. Of course, in this case, you will have to re-equip all available places for laying products, which greatly complicates the task.

It is also worth reconsidering the location of existing nests and the lighting of the room. Of course, it is worth considering that bright white light directly affects the productivity of individuals and should not be completely excluded. At the same time, an excess of such lighting leads to aggressive behavior. You can reduce the illumination by replacing the paw; if this is not possible, artificially shade the side where the nests are located. If a visible sign is still a lack of nutrients, then you need to install a UV lamp, especially in the winter season.

Proper diet for chickens

In case of acute deficiency of protein or other substances, it is necessary to provide the bird with adequate nutrition with the addition of protein at the rate of 5 grams per bird in the form of bone or fish meal. It is not unimportant to add cottage cheese, hay or root vegetables with cabbage leaves. It is worth taking a closer look at the ready-made composition; in a specialized pharmacy for pets, as a rule, they will have all the necessary components specially formulated for pieds. You can also crumble and add regular calcium gluconate to food if other specialized products for birds are not available. The more varied the food, the more beneficial it is in the body.

It must be taken into account that the productivity and spoilage of products directly depends more on the owner than on the pests. With proper care, which is important with a large walking area and good nutrition, such difficulties will never arise in a good farm, and if they suddenly do arise, then after they have been eliminated, it is worth reconsidering some factors to prevent future problems.

Video - How to get rid of the problem: chickens crush and eat eggs

The second day I find shells in the chicken coop. I don’t understand why chickens peck eggs and how to solve this problem? I close the birds, so there is no one to misbehave except them!

Why is this happening?

Chickens can peck their own eggs in both winter and summer for the same reasons:

calcium and vitamin D deficiency;
low amount of protein in the feed;
improper lighting;
small walking yard;
improper maintenance in the chicken coop.

What to do?

Let's take a closer look at what can be done if chickens peck their eggs?

Correcting nutrition

The shell contains calcium and vitamin D. Chickens begin to peck at it because these substances are not enough in the feed. Therefore, you need to increase their volumes in food, for this:

Add clean and ground egg shells and crushed chalk to the food.
Give the birds ground or finely broken shell rock.
If chickens peck eggs, be sure to add protein feed. Boil fish no more than 2 times a week so as not to damage the kidneys and spoil the taste of the eggs. Better than simple river, capelin or herring. Don't forget about fish, meat and meat and bone meal.
In addition to seafood, protein is found in milk and dairy products. Therefore, we include in the diet: whey, skim milk, buttermilk, and, if possible, cottage cheese.
Add lamb, beef or pork fat to the diet - for 25 heads, 500 g per week.
In the chicken coop we place a small amount of sand and fine gravel.

Use high quality feed intended for chickens. Don't feed your bird the same thing.

Improving content

Chickens can peck eggs due to improper maintenance. Check in the coop:

lighting - should be dim and not hit the bird in the eyes; in winter it is good to install an ultraviolet lamp in the chicken coop;
the distance of nests and boxes from each other - if the hens sit too closely together, they will definitely look at their neighbor and spoil her egg;
place for the chicken in the nest - make it soft and comfortable so that after laying the egg it does not break or the chicken does not crush it under her feet;

You can make a special tray through which the egg will carefully leave the nest and not tempt the chicken. To avoid aggressiveness and pecking, chickens should have enough space in the walking yard.

We identify and wean off “bitters”

If a chicken once pecks at its own or someone else’s shell, it becomes difficult to wean it from this habit. But there are proven “folk methods” that help a lot.

Place a white wooden or stone dummy in the nest. Tired of beaking it with its beak, the chicken will wean itself off the bad habit. The same “round” can be made from flour and very salty water, dry thoroughly before laying out.
Place tennis balls in the nest for the same purpose.
Make a fake natural product by changing the filling:
- make a small hole in the egg, remove the contents and pour in liquid soap, seal the hole. If pecking continues, move on to the next option;
- Pour in a mixture of pepper, mustard and vinegar. After such a “chatter”, the chicken will definitely lose the desire to peck eggs;
- To identify the pest, add food coloring to the mixture.
Keep the identified biters separate from the rest of the flock for several days and feed them properly and intensively. If they improve, return them to “society”; if not, they will have to be used in soup, otherwise all the chickens will become infected with the bad habit.