I have got a hen that is pecking eggs. Does anyone no how I can tell which hen it is? She is only pecking the outside of the shell. She is not getting to the yolk. Do you think she is just trying to move the egg around underneath her? She is getting in a nest where there are lready more than one egg layed.

-- Jason Priest (jeremy37@indy.net), December 14, 1999

Answers

Same problem, but with 11 hens couldn't tell. Check for eggs more often and instead of feeding back their shells for calicum I bought oyster shells. Just incase they love the taste of their own shells or have a need for calicum. I have also found and when the shells our thin they need calicum and that is also when they peck their shells.

-- Debbie Wolcott (bwolcott@cwis.net), December 15, 1999.

sometimes they are just bored, or like you said, like the taste, the more often you gather eggs the better. It is really hard to tell which one is the egg-eating culprit unless you catch her red handed, unless she gets egg on her beak. I gather my eggs twice a day, and make sure there is always feed and oyster shell available. Sometimes you just get a mean old biddie that won't stop. I give them away if they get really bad. Usually they give up if they have plenty of room to peck around and food. Maybe be sure they arn't overcrowded too.

-- Jenny Pipes (auntjenny6@aol.com), December 15, 1999.

FEED THEM EGG SHELS BUT MAKE SURE YOU COOK THEM BEFORE YOU DO MY GRANDMA PUT THE SHELLS IN A PIE PAN ON TOP OF THE WOOD STOVE AND LET THEM GET BLACKED AND SAID THAT KEEPS THE HENS FROM EATING THERE EGGS IT WORKED FORE HER AND IHAVE NERVER HAD THIS HAPPIN

-- JEFF (ZEROMAN767@AOL.COM), December 18, 1999.

I experienced this problem last year, the first time in many years of keeping chickens. after trying all of the above plus a couple of other things I built a slanted bottom for the nest that rolled the egg away from the chickens to where they couldn't get at them to peck them after a few weeks of collecting the eggs this way I changed the nest back and didn't have any more problems with the shells getting pecked. my problem started with just some pecked shells but untill it was done it turned into the whole egg being eaten. I think that it was probably started by one bird but I'm sure more than one was guilty at the end.....ron

-- ron in n.y. (ronmister@hotmail.com), December 21, 1999.

I had the same problem with a Barred Rock hen. Actually, I had some Australorps doing it to but didn't catch them in the act or see them with egg on their faces-literally. I was raising them in an 8' square chicken tractor and the problem didn't stop until I gave them more space with a wire run.

-- Marilyn Dickerson (rainbow@ktis.net), January 17, 2000.