How to Stop Hens from Eating their Eggs

Recently we got 6 laying hens from an auction. We separated them, leaving 3 in a large enclosure for the purpose of producing eggs, and giving the other ones to a rooster for the purpose of raising chicks.

In the past we have never had any issues with the hens.  We either had them produce eggs, or raise chicks, no issues at all.

This year, something seemed wrong.  First of all it was ages before we got our first egg and it did seem that we were not getting as many eggs.  Odder still was that the hens with the rooster were not laying eggs at all.

Finally I found one egg in with the hens and the rooster.  Yeah!  I got excited, however after two days the egg disappeared.  I looked around to make sure no predators had gotten into the enclosure.  Then a few days later I found another egg, but it too disappeared after a couple of days.  By now I was suspecting they were eating the eggs.

When chickens egg their own eggs there is no evidence, they even eat the shell. 

A good hen, rooster, and their family!

I tried to combat this by offering them more oyster shell, and also by placing fake eggs in their nesting boxes.  It seemed to do the trick as a couple of days later I found an egg, but not long after that, it disappeared too, so I know they ate that one as well.

Another suggestion was to empty a couple of eggs and then fill them with Tabasco sauce or something spicy, but I have not done that.

The only other suggestions would be to remove the eggs sooner and put them in an incubator but we do not have one, or to take the chickens and make them into soup, which is not going to happen either.

At least we did get a few eating eggs from the other hens, as long as I check them early for eggs I typically find some, but I suspect they are also eating eggs if they are left too long as would be on the days we leave early for work and get home later.

Three Different Lambs, a Summer Surprise

Last fall, in October, three of our ewes gave birth to lambs.  We knew that two of them had been rebred and they had their lambs in April, but it did not look like the third ewe had been rebred.  Sheep are pregnant for 5 months and we had been told the ewes of most breeds only come into heat in the fall, so the fact that we had October lambs was already a surprise.

At any rate, we thought we were in the clear with the other ewe and as such were just getting on with the summer.  We have had rain almost non-stop and the pasture has grown so tall we almost do not see the sheep at all.

We went away for four days and when we came back I noticed Girlie sheep suddenly looked different.  While she did not look pregnant, her udder seemed fuller.  The next day I was out filling  up the water and she was missing.  I found her in the old barn, she had three little lambs with her.

I went to get my husband to help me get them into the barn, I also wanted to grab the camera!  My husband picked up the lambs and carried them towards our larger barn, which I thought would be a better place for them to spend their first night.

Girlie has had triplets in the past but never produced enough milk for all and we have always had to supplement one by bottle feeding.  As such it was a good idea to get her into the barn so we could check that too, and give her a bit of oats.

She has a black ewe lamb, a brown ewe lamb (the smallest lamb) and a larger white and brown ram lamb.

Well that was all just over a week ago.  She is so far doing great with the three lambs.  I did have a bit of an awkward moment though...

On the second day I noticed a bit of her placenta was still hanging out of her (and covered in feces too).  I called the veterinarian.  It was July 1, which is Canada Day here (a holiday).  He suggested I could fix this myself, I just had to wash my hands really well, cover one hand with vegetable oil, and go insider her to gently remove it, and to feel just in case she had another lamb still inside.  He said since she was still eating and acting normal it was not an emergency in which he needed to come.  So... ya, I did that, while my husband held her, and thankfully there was no fourth lamb and I got the placenta out okay. 

Broken Horns on Sheep

When sheep break their horns it can be serious.  They could bleed to death, or they could suffer from the result of infection, or flies.  As well tetanus can be a concern. 


When we had some Jabob ewe lambs, one seemed prone to always knocking one of her horns off, causing bleeding, and worry.  If a sheep breaks a small horn treating with Iodine, or any other product you have for bleeding and/or infection, is a good idea.  You can apply something to keep the flies away too but keep it out of the wound unless instructed otherwise as per your veterinarian (not all products can be used on sheep). Make sure to stop the bleeding.

If the sheep does go off its feed, and starts grinding its teeth - call a vet.  If the horn was large and was broken right off (say on a Jacob, or Barbado ram) call a veterinarian immediately!

We just had a ram lamb, with small horn buds, knock one of the tips of his horns off.  We were separating the lambs from the ewes and accidents like this are likely to happen with lambs trying to get back to their moms. 

We treated with iodine, and are letting the wound heal on its own otherwise - exposed to the air.  It is still too cold for flies here, so we are not worried about that.

This picture was taken about 4 hours after the injury happened, it was bright red when it happened, but who thinks of taking a picture then?  You can see how small the other horn is, only about 2 inches (5cm).  The injured horn may be sore for a few days, but this little ram lamb should be fine and will continue to grow a horn in spite of the setback.