Pecking Eggs In Chickens

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Video: Pecking Eggs In Chickens

Video: Pecking Eggs In Chickens
Video: How To Stop Chickens Eating Eggs 2024, March
Pecking Eggs In Chickens
Pecking Eggs In Chickens
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Pecking eggs in chickens
Pecking eggs in chickens

Pecking (or habitual eating) of eggs is one of the behavioral disorders in chickens, which is a rather serious problem. Often this problem appears at the end of the winter period. And when such situations arise, you should react immediately

Reasons for pecking chickens' own eggs

The reasons for pecking their own eggs in chickens may well be: insufficient calcium content in feed; small area of the premises for keeping birds; chickens eating eggshells (with residues of protein and yolk), broken by accident.

And yet, the most important reason is considered to be unbalanced feeding, as a result of which the hens develop a deficiency of trace elements and vitamins (especially calcium, as well as vitamin D), which leads to the desire to peck eggs.

Another reason for pecking can be the presence of pure eggshells in the diet of chickens. If the owners constantly offer them the shell, then they quickly get used to its smell, and the chickens begin to perceive their own eggs as food, mechanically pecking them. That is why, if there are eggshells in the chicken diet, the shell must always be crushed and must be mixed with other feed - it is permissible to give only shell, chalk, limestone in its pure form.

Various external factors leading to a change in the behavior of birds may also be to blame for the pecking of their eggs by chickens: the presence of a large number of ticks or other parasites; the content of any toxic substances in the feed; violation of the temperature and light conditions in the poultry house; poor quality bedding; increased stocking density of birds; incorrect placement of nests; replanting new chickens in the poultry house; a sharp change in diet.

Anti-pecking measures

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Collecting eggs during pecking should be done more thoroughly and more often, immediately removing the shell of broken eggs from the house. Some owners make double bottom nests in which the eggs roll onto the lower floor along the upper sloping floor.

Also, aggressive layers are sometimes cut off the tip of the beak (more precisely, its upper part) - while the cut edge must be cauterized with hot metal; an ordinary table knife is also suitable for this purpose. This pruning is called de-picking. Debicking is also used due to the fact that the desire to peck the laid eggs may well depend on the breeds of birds - there are breeds that cannot be kept in the usual way due to their aggressiveness.

Laying hens, especially in winter, do not have enough good walking and a wide variety of cereals - at least they need to get 5-7 grams of protein per day. For this reason, first of all, the amount of protein they need in the form of meat and bone meal, fish meal or fat-free cottage cheese should be added to the diet of birds. Additionally, they give minerals and fortified supplements. Calcium-rich additives should also be added to the forage for layers: shell rock, bone meal, calcium gluconate, slaked lime or a special supplement "Ryabushka". Calcium supplements are best served in a separate feeder. In addition, the diet of chickens includes pumpkin, potatoes, beets, cabbage, carrots, hay from legumes (and, if possible, green grass) - all of these foods contain vitamins, carbohydrates and much-needed protein.

Noticing that a certain chicken began to peck at eggs, it must be immediately separated from the rest of the birds for several days and actively fed with special supplements with vitamins and calcium. After a couple of weeks, the chicken is returned to its relatives and monitored. If the chicken continues to peck eggs, then it is discarded. If there are several chickens pecking eggs, then it is imperative to reconsider the conditions for keeping birds and their diet.

Chickens constantly biting eggs can also be offered the so-called blende eggs - a solution of mustard or pepper is poured into an empty egg using a syringe. Trompe l'oeil is also made using plaster. Deceptions are placed in places where chickens are usually biting, but this method is far from always able to stop chickens and rid them of their addiction.

Light mode for chickens

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Since chickens have color vision, their behavior can be influenced by all kinds of changes in the light regime. The blue and green colors of the spectrum, for example, slow down puberty and enhance growth. Orange, yellow and red enhance puberty, while orange and red further increase egg production. Blue lighting makes the birds calmer. Previously, chickens were often bred and raised under red lighting, which was considered the most favorable for preventing cannibalism - chickens could not see drops of blood on top of each other, and this did not provoke them to bite. And the most successful method of preventing cannibalism in chickens today is growing them in white light, always dim. In dim white light, birds are not able to see each other well enough to start a fight, or eggs to start pecking at them - such lighting for birds is considered equivalent to night. However, it is important to know that this method in some cases can lead to impaired visual function in chickens, which, for example, does not correspond to the principles of well-being accepted in Europe.

A forgotten way to deal with pecking

Some villagers advise adding mutton fat to the chicken diet twice a week when pecking (both goat fat and internal pork fat are suitable for this purpose). After all, the yolk is eaten by chickens mainly with the aim of enriching it with energy for heating - the yolk contains fats, which are a kind of energy "fuel" of the body. And by offering chickens fat, the owners force the birds to make a choice in favor of a much more energy-rich product. Chickens begin to get enough energy and stop pecking eggs.

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