Reasons and what to do if chickens peck eggs, methods of solving the problem
There are many reasons why chickens peck eggs, so you need to understand the problem in time and decide what to do. A number of tips and tricks will help you identify the cause of the problem. After that, they begin to eliminate it: adjust the diet, make adjustments to the conditions of detention. Preventive measures will help prevent the problem from reoccurring.
Why chickens peck their eggs
You can only quickly deal with the problem if you identify the root cause.
Improper feeding
The most important factor is improper or unbalanced diet:
- Lack of vitamins, in particular calcium, leads to the fact that chickens eat their eggs. Another sign of calcium deficiency is that their shells become thin and brittle.
- Poor quality or spoiled food, lack of greenery, feeding with prohibited products also causes the problem.
- Changes in diet.
- The presence of shell remnants with protein and yolk in food. It is permissible to give the shell to the chickens, but only as part of the mash. It is pre-washed, dried and crushed.
Attacks of aggression
Some laying hens peck eggs not because of the absence of any vitamins in the body, but because of harm. Such chickens often deliberately crush eggs, attack other chickens, being intolerant of the neighborhood with other individuals. Aggression is aggravated by lack of food and non-compliance with conditions of detention.
External factors
External factors can influence the behavior of chickens:
- violation of the light or temperature regime leads to the fact that the birds split eggs and drink the contents;
- the presence of pests in the chicken coop, such as ticks, feather eaters;
- in winter, a frequent reason is the lack of bird walking;
- chickens eat eggs in nests due to the tightness of the room.
How to find out what are the reasons?
The advice of experienced poultry farmers will help you figure out the problem. Routine observation of poultry behavior will help.
The laying hen, which is engaged in pesting, is often in the hen house, sits near the nests, waiting for a fresh batch. As soon as the chicken is calculated, it is transferred to another place for two weeks. At the same time, they try one of the most effective methods of weaning from egg biting.
How to wean chickens from pecking eggs?
Sometimes it is enough to make adjustments to the diet and the problem goes away.But in some cases you have to fight in other ways.
Proper nutrition
Additional components should be included in the chicken diet:
- the daily menu should include such products as fishmeal, low-fat cottage cheese, milk;
- once a week it is useful to give the tripe of a slaughtered animal;
- every day a little salt, nettle, crushed shell rock should be added to the food of the bird;
- legumes, alfalfa are useful in small quantities;
- will compensate for the lack of vitamins a mash based on grated boiled vegetables;
- it is useful to give several grams of beef, lamb or pork fat.
In the warm season, the bird should eat a lot of fresh greens.
Pharmacy preparations
In some advanced cases, you have to resort to medications. Treatment is carried out with such means as "Ryabushka", "Laying", "Vitaminol", "Biovetin", "Methionin".
Traditional methods
Sometimes it is possible to solve the problem in folk ways:
- lining in the nest of a round-shaped dummy made of wood, stone or salt dough;
- helps lining in the nests of tennis balls.
If folk remedies do not help, medicines or more radical measures come to the rescue.
Improving conditions of detention
You should also check the conditions of detention 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.
- The nests should be located at human height with a ladder approach.
- Laying hens' nests should not be close to each other.
- You can design the nests so that the egg rolls gently into a separate compartment.
Lighting rules
The room should have white, dim lighting. The nests themselves should be in the most shaded corners of the coop.
In the dark, the chickens will not be able to see the eggs, and the biting will stop.
In winter, it is recommended to arrange the backlight with an ultraviolet lamp. It will make up for the lack of vitamin D. Do not leave too bright light in the chicken coop. This increases the aggressiveness of the birds.
You need to take care of the length of daylight hours. For this purpose, windows are made in the room and additional lamps are installed in the winter.
Outdoor content and size of the aviary
Stress in birds is caused by a rare stay outside and inadequate walking space.
It is genetically inherent that chickens must independently obtain their own food. Therefore, they can often be found eating grass, small insects or pebbles. If the area for walking is small, then the chickens do not have such an opportunity. Gradually, the chickens become irritable and peck at their eggs.
In order for the chicken to run up to its fullest, and it was not interested in pecking its eggs, you need to organize a large aviary. On average, 4 birds should have 1 square meter. m. The more space, the better.
Make a dummy 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 with a syringe. Then a solution with vinegar or pepper is poured inside and the hole is closed with plasticine. The finished copy is placed in the nest.
Dealing of birds
Some chicken breeds are characterized by an aggressive character, so the only way out is to debick the beak. The procedure consists in cutting off a part of the bird's beak with special tools.
Egg pecking prevention
Preventive measures will help prevent egg biting:
- provide a complete diet in accordance with the season;
- enrich the menu with products rich in vitamin and mineral complex;
- the chicken coop must be kept clean and dry;
- the room must have a certain air temperature, good illumination and ventilation;
- a spacious walk should be organized;
- you need to collect eggs regularly;
- vegetables are left in the room so that the chickens have something to nibble on.
Dealing with the problem with the right method is easy. But it is better to avoid the problem by creating all the necessary conditions.
