Often, misfortune befalls chicken farmers: they stop finding eggs in the quantity that the chickens should lay. But pieces of eggshell are found in abundance. Inevitably, the conclusion suggests itself that the chickens began to eat their own products. There is always a reason why chickens peck eggs. But identifying this reason is quite difficult. In addition, after the onset of this habit, chickens can continue cannibalism even after the cause is eliminated.
Identifying the culprit
Pecking in laying hens can be caused by just one hen. The trouble is that other birds learn cannibalism very quickly. Yes, a bad example is contagious, as we know. If the population is not very large, you can identify the pest chicken by the remains of the egg on the head. In any case, you will notice drops of yolk somewhere. Either near the beak or under the beak. In general, you need to carefully examine each chicken.
Besides everything else, the culprit may also be sick. This is provided that she started pecking with her own products. Having identified the culprit, you need to carefully examine her and make sure that she is healthy, and that the reason for eating eggs lies in something else.
Causes of pecking
Most often, chickens peck eggs due to an inadequate diet. In second place are psychological problems arising from crowded content.
The reason for “poor diet” is quite vague. More precisely, this is the root cause, since this causes the shell to become thinner or the chickens may desperately try to replenish the missing elements from the contents of the egg. With thin shells, eggs often crack when falling from the hen or the hen breaks them with a careless movement. A chicken will probably eat a cracked egg. But shell defects also occur in some diseases.
If chickens peck eggs, determine the cause and decide what to do depending on the “diagnosis”. And the answer to the question “what to do to prevent chickens from pecking eggs” directly depends on establishing the cause of pecking. In each case, different methods will need to be used.
Lack of protein
If a lack of animal protein is the reason why chickens peck their eggs, the answer to what to do suggests itself: add animal protein to the feed. To do this, you can use those by-products that are usually thrown away:
- pork skins;
- lungs;
- spleen;
- other parts of the animal carcass.
The products are boiled and passed through a meat grinder, after which they are given to the chickens. If there is in fact not enough protein in the feed, and the chickens are pecking at the eggs, then the fight against pecking will stop on its own after introducing additional animal protein into the diet.
Lysine deficiency
This is an essential amino acid that is part of all types of proteins: animal and plant. There is a lot of it in meat, eggs, legumes, cod and sardines. The cereal grains beloved by Russians contain very little lysine.If the main component of the diet is wheat or corn, and chickens are pecking at eggs, then the reason is most likely a lack of lysine.
In Russia, you can use peas or beans instead of soybeans, but these are expensive products.
Calcium
Another reason why chickens peck eggs is a lack of calcium. In this case, the bird begins to peck the eggs, needing the shell. The products are eaten without leaving a trace. If you're lucky, the owner will only find a wet spot. If you are unlucky, you will have to wonder for a long time where the eggs went.
But having reached the contents, the chicken will get used to the fact that the egg is food, and will begin to peck as a result of a bad habit. What to do if chickens peck eggs due to a lack of calcium: provide them with a feed additive in the form of chalk or limestone. Seashells, which also serve as gastroliths, are a good choice.
Vitamins
This may be one of the reasons why chickens peck eggs in winter. The lack of walking leads to the fact that the chickens have nowhere to get vitamin D. Plus, in the summer, when walking, the chickens independently find greens for food. They cannot do this in winter. To avoid pecking due to a lack of vitamins, it is necessary to include vegetables and, if possible, greens in the birds’ diet. Ultraviolet lamps will provide vitamin D to chickens in winter. Long walking, even in winter, will also benefit the birds, at least psychologically. It is necessary to give chickens the opportunity to walk as much as possible.
Hunger strike
Chicken coop owners have noticed another reason why chickens peck eggs: hunger strike. All animals get used to a certain feeding regime.If you regularly delay feeding for several hours, the birds will find their own food and, most likely, it will be eggs. Or a weaker brother.
Poor winter conditions
In crowded conditions and without sufficient walking in the sun, chickens begin to feel a lack of vitamin D, which affects the calcium-phosphorus balance. What to do if chickens peck eggs in winter due to a lack of ultraviolet radiation - hang a special lamp in the chicken coop that emits light in the ultraviolet spectrum. Another reason why chickens peck eggs in winter is overcrowding. What to do in this case, if it is not possible to resettle the birds, put restrictive pecking rings on them. Such rings not only prevent eggs from being pecked, but also save weaker individuals from pecking.
Bad nests
Sometimes the reason why chickens eat their eggs is because of cramped nests. What to do in this case, each owner is forced to decide for himself. It's not even a matter of psychological discomfort. Most often, eating produce for the first time occurs by accident: the hen laid eggs, stood up in the nest, awkwardly turned around and pierced the shell with her claw. The egg cracked and the contents leaked out. Few chickens can resist eating the leaked contents. And then a bad habit arises. It's delicious.
If this causes chickens to peck eggs, then there are several recommendations on how to make a nest. Most often it is advised to place the birds on a net with an angle so that the products roll down to the wall. The best option would be industrial cages for laying hens, in which the eggs are rolled out onto a mesh. In this case, the chicken will definitely not be able to crush and eat its products.
The second option: make a hole in the middle of the nest so that the demolished products fall down onto the mesh.
This method of constructing a nest has serious disadvantages: the hole can become clogged with litter; Products may crack if dropped; It is not a fact that a chicken will lay an egg near the hole.
Aggressive individual
Sometimes a chicken appears in the chicken coop, which not only terrorizes the neighbors, but also eats the produce they demolish. Such a chicken is bad not only because it eats its own and other people’s eggs, but also because other chickens learn by looking at it. Often it is such a bird that becomes the reason that laying hens pecking eggs. It’s clear what to do in such a situation: throw the aggressor into the soup.
But if this individual is very valuable, out of desperation you can first try another method. The author of the video talks about his very original way of stopping chickens from pecking their eggs.
Tried everything, nothing helps
The owner revised the diet, changed the conditions of detention, made sure that there were no provocateurs, but the chickens continued their outrages. The reason why chickens peck eggs is unclear and it is not clear what to do. Most likely, this is an already established bad habit, which initially arose due to a violation of the conditions of detention. But now no improvement can eradicate it and we have to resort to other methods.
What to do if chickens peck eggs and are not going to stop, several ways:
- offer tasteless deception;
- place in industrial cages for laying hens;
- chop off beaks;
- wear glasses that limit your field of vision;
- put on anti-pecking rings;
- completely eliminate the population and introduce new birds.
What to do if chickens continue pecking at eggs, the owners decide depending on their own employment and desires.The easiest way to solve the problem of chickens pecking eggs is to slaughter everyone. But often this is not possible, since the bird may be a rare breed that is undesirable to put under the knife. Or the pecking occurs because the room is too small and cannot be enlarged.
What to do if chickens peck eggs for psychological reasons or out of habit: cage them, cut off their beaks, or put on an anti-pecking ring/glasses.
Beak trimming
Not everyone has special devices for this. In addition, trimming part of the beak often does not help. You can also break the shell with a blunt beak.
What are glasses and ring
These devices prevent chickens from cannibalism and reduce aggressiveness towards neighbors in the chicken coop.
Glasses come in different modifications. Some of them are reusable, others are disposable. Disposable ones use a special locking stick that pierces the nasal septum and passes through the nasal openings. Such glasses can subsequently only be removed together with the beak.
The pins of reusable glasses often do not close completely and do not damage the nasal septum. In addition, they can be removed and reused if necessary.
It is very difficult to open these glasses with your hands. Glasses limit the bird’s field of vision right in front of the “nose”, but do not interfere with drinking and eating, since chickens have well-developed peripheral vision. Without seeing eggs or a rival right in front of him, the chicken does not try to peck them.
The anti-pecking ring requires the chicken's beak to be constantly slightly open. With such a ring you can eat and drink, but you cannot hit anything, since the bird makes any blow with a closed beak.
Deceptions
Some owners of thieving chickens suggest using decoys placed in nests. Often this is an empty shell filled with liquid mustard or hot pepper infusion through a syringe. It is believed that by trying to eat such an “egg”, the chicken will get a lot of impressions and stop cannibalism. The disadvantage here is similar to a cramped nest. A shell with a hole is very fragile, and the chicken can crush it before it takes a bite.
The old-fashioned method of deception involves making a dummy from very salty dough.
The dummy is dried and placed in place of the original. They say that after trying to peck at such a deception, a chicken will swear off eating eggs for the rest of its life.
Conclusion
Knowing the reason why chickens peck eggs and what to do in each specific case, the owner will definitely be able to once again receive a sufficient amount of production from his laying hens.
