Egg Eater!!!

[rainlips]

I caught one of my hens chi wing down on an egg this morning! I'm so bummed cause she lays pretty green eggs! I'm not sure if I should wait it out and hope she stops or just make her dinner :-(
I knew someone was eating them but I was really hopping that it was an older hen....

 

[Kelsie2290]

They usually don't stop on their own once they have gotten into the habit, sounds like yours has been doing it for awhile? The Learning Center has a good article on breaking them, following the steps they suggest and using the Pinless Peepers, they really do seem to work if you have a stubborn hen you really don't want to get rid of. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/six-tips-on-breaking-your-egg-eater

 

[erinchelsea]

If you happen to have a cracked egg in the nest box, a hen will eat it whether or not she's a regular egg eater or not. If you can tell that the hen is actually cracking good eggs and eating them herself, yes I would get rid of her but IMO I wouldn't get rid of her for one incident.

 

[rainlips]

It's been happening for a while I just hadn't caught the "cracker"
Well this morning she was the one that pushed the egg out of the box and broke it open, and had brunch...of course a few others joined it..
I've been missing 4-5 eggs a day. It's been really cold here so I thought they just slowed down... Now I'm wondering!