Monday, January 24, 2011

Chickens Eating Their Eggs!


Hello Sweet Ladies,

Okay...........you know how I told you that the girls are laying lots of eggs? Well guess what......now they are eating them. I am going to have to do some research on what to do. I have heard that you can put hard wood eggs in their nest boxes and when they peck the egg........ it gets their beak. Does anyone else out there know what to do? I just love her feathers. I am so bad at the different names of chickens. So many of them are crosses on my farm. But I think she is beautiful! They are so healthy this year. Lots of food scraps from the college. We are all blessed working at the college. We eat and our animals eat.....blessing! Thank you Jesus..........you think of everything!

You ladies are cracking me up on ideas for my hat. Today I wore it with my bangs a little fluffy. It was not that bad. I felt a lot better then looking like I didn't have any hair at all. Thank you though.........I think my boss would not let me have flowers on it. I should do it anyway..........just to be funny. Hey......maybe I will. I will let you know if I do.

I had planned on a little sewing tonight..........but I heard our middle son's truck coming up the lane. Doesn't matter how old our kids are....I love it............Momma's doesn't it make your heart just skip a beat when you know your kids are coming HOME? Anyway he was going up to the tree row to cut some hedge for their families fireplace. They were out of wood and that is how they heat their Home. We decided to go and help fill the back of the truck with wood......with five of us working it went real fast. The sun was going to be going down soon........... the sight was so beautiful. I forgot to take the camera. It was such a special time working along side our Josh. Lots of memory making going on.....maybe one day down the road he will remember that we loved him this night.......by helping!

This morning I took my Beth Moore Praying God's Word Book with me so I could pray on the way to work. I love this book........it helps keep my mind in a right perspective when I am having a difficult time. I read and prayed. This is one of the prayers I prayed.

"Lord, I don't want to waver through unbelief regarding Your promises, but I desire to be strengthened in my faith and give glory to You, God, being fully persuaded that You have power to do what You promise. You credit this kind of faith to Your children as righteousness!" Romans 4:20-22.

We are waiting to see if Vitaliy is even adoptable. Could be 7 weeks. Long wait.........trusting like I have never trusted before..........good place to be!

Just wanted to say hello.........not much news! Thank you also for the comments you left me today!

Also "welcome new followers".............I will be coming and visiting you........soon!

Hugs from my farm to your HOME!

Linda

13 comments:

  1. Hi Linda,
    I remember that my Grandma used to mix grownd egg shell with their meal for calcium.
    Do you think that they are needing extra calcium? Maybe if you give them the egg shells they would stop eating their own eggs?
    Blessings from Linnie

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  2. Hi Linnie.........maybe so..........didn't think of that. We bring home all the egg shells from the college everyday.........but maybe they just aren't getting enough. I think we have some oyster shells. I can try that. Thank you sooooo much for writing me!!!
    Hugs, Linda

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  3. It's not all the chickens is it Linda?:( Oh I hope and pray not! I do hope you're able to correct them of it. Praying for Vitaliy also.

    Hugs XX
    Barbara

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  4. Linda,
    I used golf balls in my nesting boxes and it worked. Be sure to leave them for a long time - at least a month or so. Hope it works as well for you as it did me!

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  5. Yep...they need oyster shells for calcium. Once they start eating the eggs it is a bad habit to break. The best thing is to go out often and collect them to get them out of the bad habit. Good luck!

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  6. Good Morning!
    We can certainly sympathize with chicken issues! Since we live close to the ocean...we use crushed clam and mussel shells...but the oyster shells should work just fine. I wouldn't give them crushed egg shells...and the wooden eggs or golf balls in the boxes do help. Also, if possible, collect them as soon as you can for a while, this will break the habit eventually.

    Have a blessed day!
    Laura

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  7. Hi Linda! We have a container full of oyster shell for our chickens all the time and haven't had any problem with them pecking their eggs. I took a milk jug, cut openings in each side so they could stick their heads in and then filled it with the shell. Hung it up off the ground at the right height for them with a piece of wire. First time, I used twine and they had that pecked apart in no time. Think that the oyster shell is what they need.
    hugs to ya, Sue K

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  8. My thought was needing extra calcium too. If they have been profuse layers they may be lacking enough minerals to create an adequate shell and thus find their own source. Good luck.

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  9. Hi Linda~
    Sounds like we all agree ~ those girls are needing some extra calcuim. I have found that when they need the calcuim (I give my hens oyster shell) their own eggs have thinner shells and break easily when they get into the nest! Then they eat it. When they have enough oyster shell, they don't eat their eggs anymore. I give them egg shells along with other scraps and that doesn't seem to encourage them to eat their eggs, though some people have told me that it would. (I don't think chickens are that smart, sadly.)Hope the addition of some oyster shell helps with that problem! (I like Amy's idea of the golf ball! I will try that if I find a sharing golfer!)
    Blessings!

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  10. Yeper my chickens stopped eating their eggs after I started feeding them oyster shells. Hope they stop soon. It is such a downer when I get all excited to go collect the eggs and those boogers have eaten them. Praying for Vitaly. Jennifer

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  11. This has help me a lot also by just reading the comments your friends have been leaving. This the first year we have had chickens and hubs went out at the same time we go everyday and only found 4 whole eggs. We usually get 8-12 a day. One was left broke open but not all the shell was there. I started collecting them earlier but I will try the oyster shell for sure.

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  12. Dear Linda...I have an urgent prayer request...for a young man, Devon Minor, a freshman at Geneva College ( a Christian Liberal Arts college in PA) he has been missing since late last Wednesday night. His keys, cell phone, lap top, and winter coats are all still in his dorm room. My husband and I both attended there and now our child is a student there as well...we plead the precious blood of Jesus over this young man and are so thankful for your prayers. His momma died when he was two and his aunt raised him and she said he is a bit of a loner and he has a very sad, sad place in his heart. I knew your momma heart would be moved..thank you again for all prayers. In Jesus' Becky

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  13. Wow! It seems to be a unanimous decision. Oyster shells to eat and golf balls to deter their pecking.......
    I have used egg shells in my garden to enrich the soil and to deter grubs and slugs. I have read that you should put egg shells out with your birdseed in the spring to help the birds have sturdier eggs. And hang dryer lint so they have stuff to build nests. So we do but we've never had chickens and I really don't know.
    Still praying......
    ★Linda★

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God Bless your day!