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Quite often, chicken breeders suffer misfortune: they stop finding eggs in the quantity that chickens should have carried. But in abundance find pieces of eggshell. Involuntarily, the conclusion suggests itself that the chickens began to eat their own products. There is always a reason why chickens peck eggs. But to identify this reason is quite difficult. In addition, after the appearance of this habit, chickens can continue cannibalism even after the cause has been eliminated.
Identification of the culprit
Pecking at laying hens can be produced by any one hen. The trouble is that other birds learn cannibalism very quickly. Yes, a bad example is contagious, as you know. If the livestock is not very large, you can install the pest chicken by the remnants of the egg on the head. In any case, somewhere you can see drops of yolk. Either near the beak or under the beak. In general, you need to carefully examine each chicken.
Among other things, the culprit may also be sick. This is assuming that she started pecking with her own products. Having identified the culprit, she must be carefully examined to make sure that she is healthy, and the reason for eating eggs lies in something else.
Reasons for pecking
Most often, chickens peck eggs due to an inadequate diet. In second place are psychological problems arising from crowded content.
The reason for “inadequate diet” is rather vague. More precisely, this is the root cause, since because of this the shell is thinning or the hens may be desperately trying to make up for the missing elements from the contents of the egg. With a thin shell, eggs often crack when falling from a hen, or the hen breaks them with a careless movement. A cracked egg will probably be eaten by a chicken. But shell defects also occur in some diseases.
If chickens peck eggs, establish the cause and decide what to do depending on the “diagnosis”. And the answer to the question “what to do so that chickens do not peck eggs” directly depends on establishing the cause of pecking. In each case, different methods will need to be applied.
Protein deficiency
If a lack of animal protein is the reason why chickens peck their eggs, the answer is obvious: 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 chickens. If there is actually not enough protein in the feed, and the hens peck at the eggs, then the fight against pecking will stop by itself after the introduction of additional animal protein into the diet.
Lysine deficiency
This is an essential amino acid that is part of all types of proteins: animal and vegetable. There is a lot of it in meat, eggs, legumes, cod and sardine. There is very little lysine in cereal grains beloved by s. If the main component of the diet is wheat or corn, and chickens peck eggs, then the reason is most likely a lack of lysine.
In Our Country, 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 at the eggs, needing the shell. Products are eaten without a trace. With luck, the owner will only find a wet spot. If you are not lucky, you will think for a long time where the eggs have gone.
But having reached the contents, the chicken will get used to the fact that the egg is food, and will begin to peck already 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. Shells, which at the same time act as gastroliths, are well suited.
Vitamins
May be one of the reasons why chickens peck their eggs in winter. The lack of walking leads to the fact that the chickens have nowhere to get vitamin D. Plus, in the summer, on the walk, the chickens independently find greens for food. In winter, they cannot do this. To avoid pecking due to a lack of vitamins, it is imperative to include vegetables and, if possible, greens in the diet of birds. In winter, chickens will be provided with vitamin D by ultraviolet lamps. A long walk, 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 regimen. 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.
Bad 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 light – hang a special lamp in the chicken coop that emits light in the ultraviolet spectrum. Another reason why chickens peck their eggs in winter is overcrowding. What to do in this case, if it is not possible to resettle the bird – put on them limiting rings from pecking. Such rings not only interfere with pecking eggs, but also save weaker individuals from pecking.
bad nests
Sometimes the reason why chickens eat their eggs is cramped nests. What to do in this case, each owner is forced to decide independently. It’s not even a matter of psychological discomfort. Most often, eating products for the first time happens by accident: the laying hen fell down, stood in the nest, turned awkwardly and pierced the shell with a claw. The egg cracked and the contents leaked out. Few chickens will refrain from eating the leaked contents. And then there is a bad habit. It’s delicious.
If because of this, chickens peck eggs, then there are several recommendations on how to make a nest. Most often, it is advised to put the birds on a net with a slope so that the products roll down to the wall. The best option would be industrial cages for laying hens, in which eggs roll out along the grid. 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 grid.
This method of building a nest has serious disadvantages: the hole can become clogged with bedding; products may crack if dropped; not the fact that the chicken will lay an egg near the hole.
Aggressive individual
Sometimes a chicken starts up in the chicken coop, which not only terrorizes the neighbors, but also eats the products they have demolished. Such a chicken is bad not only because it eats its own and other people’s eggs, but also because the rest of the chickens learn by looking at it. Often it is such a bird that causes laying hens to peck eggs. It is clear what to do in such a situation: send 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 to wean chickens from pecking their eggs.
Tried everything, nothing helps
The owner reviewed the diet, changed the conditions of detention, made sure that there were no provocateurs, and the chickens continue their outrages. The reason why chickens peck eggs is not clear and what to do is not clear. It is most likely that this is an already entrenched bad habit, originally due to a containment breach. But now it can no longer be eradicated by any improvement, and one has to resort to other methods.
What to do if chickens peck eggs and are not going to stop, several ways:
- offer a tasteless snag;
- seated in industrial cages for laying hens;
- chop off beaks;
- put on glasses that limit the field of view;
- put on rings from pecking;
- completely eliminate the livestock and introduce new birds.
What to do if the pecking of eggs by chickens continues, the owners decide, depending on their own employment and desire. The easiest way to solve the problem if chickens peck eggs is to slaughter everyone without exception. But often this is not possible, since the bird may be of a rare breed, which is undesirable to put under the knife. Or pecking occurs due to too small a room that cannot be enlarged.
What to do if hens peck eggs for psychological reasons or out of habit: plant them in cages, chop off their beaks or put on a ring / glasses from pecking.
beak clipping
Not everyone has special equipment for this. In addition, trimming part of the beak often does not help. You can break the shell with a blunt beak.
What are glasses and a ring
These devices interfere with the cannibalism of chickens and reduce aggressiveness towards coop neighbors.
Glasses come in different versions. Some of them are reusable, others are disposable. In disposables, a special locking stick is used that pierces the nasal septum and passes through the nasal openings. Such glasses can later be removed only with the beak.
The pins of reusable goggles 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 unclench such glasses with your hands. The glasses limit the field of view of the bird right in front of the “nose”, but do not interfere with drinking and eating, since the lateral vision of chickens is well developed. Not seeing eggs or an opponent right in front of him, the chicken does not try to peck them.
The anti-pecking retaining ring assumes that the chicken’s beak is constantly ajar. You can eat and drink with such a ring, but you can’t hammer anything, since the bird produces any blow with a closed beak.
Dummy
Some owners of thieving chickens suggest using tricks planted in nests. Often this is an empty shell, filled through a syringe with liquid mustard or an infusion of hot pepper. 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. The shell with a hole is very fragile, and the chicken can crush it before it bites.
The old-fashioned way of snag involves making a dummy from very salty dough.
The model is dried and placed in place of the original. They say that having tried to peck at such a snag, a chicken will refuse to eat eggs for life.
Conclusion
Knowing the reason why hens peck eggs and what to do in each case, the owner will definitely be able to get enough production from his layers again.