Egg-eating

[LaLa Chickie]

I wish this was true, but egg-eating is usually caused because a hen accidentally breaks an egg, tastes it and likes what it tastes like. Chickens think eggs are yummy and they learn to break them fairly quickly once they figure out that there is goody inside. This is why you should never feed raw egg with the shell to chickens.

If the golf balls aren't working, the best way to ID the egg eater is to inspect beaks carefully for signs of egg yolk, and cull the offender. It's really hard to stop a dedicated egg eater. If you want to try everything first, look in the BYC Learning Center for the article on how to break an egg eater for suggestions.

The point about making sure they're amused is a good one, too. I have more egg eating when my chickens are bored inside the hen house due to bad weather, and the best solution there is to give them something to do, like peck at a cabbage on a string. I also make sure to gather eggs as often as I can so there are fewer eggs sitting around to break, and fewer eggs in the boxes to be accidentally broken when a hen is getting in and out of the nest.

Yes, mine only ate them because they broke accidentally and I would see yolk on their face...they don't do it anymore as their eggs grew harder shells...

 

[tinychicadees]

All of my chickens are egg eater from what I can tell, but we know that if the chickens are getting enough calcium, the shell will not break. So if we have some of our girls eating their eggs, we just give em more calcium.

I keep oyster shell in there coop. So I assume they should not be deficient in calcium. I just found out that when my boyfriend went to get these chickens, he said the guy had golf balls in the coop. I'm wondering if maybe they are accidently knocking them out of the box and maybe they break and then they eat them?

 

[DavidKerk]

I think I replied to the wrong thread so at the risk of repeating myself:

I just broke my birds of eating eggs after making the mistake of letting a non-chicken owner watch our flock of 11 when we went on vacation. There’s an article about this in BYC but you fill eggs with dish soap and let your girls have at those. The way I did it was to take a "turkey nail" (it came with a turkey baster but I don't know what it’s for) that was sitting in our utensil l drawer for who knows how long to poke a hole all the way through both sides of the egg (the long way). Swirl the ‘nail’ around inside the eggs to break the yolk. Carefully blow out the egg into a bowl and cook it up (or freeze it for later). Glue a tiny piece of paper towel, (or egg shell) over one of the two holes on the egg and let the glue dry. Saturate the paper towel with glue so its water proof. You could probably even just plug the hole with hot glue.

Prior to all this I went to Walgreens and asked the pharmacist for the biggest oral syringe they had (which they'll give you for free). Fill the syringe with dish soap and inject the soap into your hollow eggs. Plug the other hole once they are filled and you’re ready for battle. Put them in your nesting boxes and check for new eggs as often as possible (I checked 3 times a day). You’ll have to keep replacing the soap eggs for a few days but your birds will figure out that eggs don’t taste so great.

One final note: I gave them a pie pan of oyster shell in their run -- just in case there was a deficiency. Good luck. Above all and contrary to popular belief: DON'T CULL YOUR BIRDS BECAUSE OF THIS. YOU CAN RE-TRAIN THEM. It took about 1-2 weeks but they're staying away from their egss now.

I've heard you can also use mustard and chili powder!

 

[MnMudSlinger]

I had the same problem a month or so ago and now my chickens are completely over it. This is what I did...

1) I heard it happens when they lay eggs with thin shells which break easily. They find the contents a taste treat and eat everything, especially the shell. Thin shells are caused by a dietary deficiency so put out crushed oyster shells as a remedy. I bought the smallest feeder I could find, nailed it to the wall and keep crushed oyster shells in it at all times. I bought a large bag, I think 40 lbs at Fleet Farm... and it wasn't that expensive. The girls just love eating it too.

2) I sat out in the coop for a little while and observed their behavior. I noticed two hens constantly going into each nest box, looking around and then moving on to the next box. I placed these two suspects in dog kennels (in the coop) during egg laying hours. The egg eating problem abruptly stopped. I let these hens out daily as soon as all or most eggs had been laid for the day. I did this for about two weeks.

3) I happen to have several egg shaped/colored rocks (I'm a rockhound) in the nest boxes hoping they might try to peck at them and get sore beaks. I'm not sure if this actually works but have heard rumors it may at least encourage egg laying. If you can't find rocks, try golf balls.

After two weeks I went back to the my normal way of operating except that I left the rock-eggs in the nest boxes. The egg eating behavior never returned. I'm not sure if it was Number 1, 2 or 3 or the combination of them all... but whatever it was, it worked!

I'm no expert since I am fairly new to this... but this is what worked for me. I'm glad that I didn't have to butcher any of my hens, which may have been my next step!

Good luck!!!

 

[CityHen-Indy]

I've tried the egg filled with mustard. Thought it would help me identify the egg eater by having yellow on their face. The entire egg disappeared with no trace of yellow on faces and none in the nesting box, but as far as I can tell the egg eating has stopped. I keep oyster shell in the coop now too.

 

[JesNflock]

Ok new to this whole thing.... but what is culling?

Welcome to BYC from N.E. Florida!!!
Culling is killing them, usually for their meat, but sometimes it's for other reasons like disease or even nasty tempered roos...

 

[bantambury]

I am not getting many eggs, and there is sometimes sticky stuff in the nest box. How do I identify the egg-eater/s? I have golf balls in there, but they are not working. Has anybody successfully done this without culling?

we have had egg eaters. normally we caught the culprit when we noticed they had yolk all over their combs!
when they eat yolk, they are just as sloppy as they are eating yogurt. they get it EVERYWHERE!


Also, we have never culled an eater, the way to solve this is easy.

first, the reason the chickens will eat the eggs is because they may feel they have limited calcium amounts.
that why my hens began to eat my eggs. they had no calcium in their reach, so they turned to their eggs.




you can get oyster shells in a bag for calcium. that is what we use. since then, we have had NO egg eaters, and its been a year.



Once your chickens get the first taste of egg it will be harder to stop them from eating it.....but we stopped ours! (they are sort of like those doge that if they get a taste of meat, they will attack and kill)



here is a website which may help: http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Chickens-from-Eating-Their-Own-Eggs



hope this helps!

~Bantambury

 

[vocations]

One (I HOPE only one) of our hens occasionally lays a thin-shelled egg on the floor and they all join in the feast. I actually saw this happen once. The whole flock was gathered around the back of the hen and they all raced after the egg when it came. I grabbed the egg and wouldn't let them have it.

Lately, though, it's been happening early in the morning before I get there. The other day they were all chasing a frozen, shell-less egg around the floor, as if she had laid it when they were all still asleep and it froze on the floor.

I tried giving them oyster shell, but the roo scattered it all around the henhouse every time I put it out and the girls got very little, if any. I've been giving them yoghurt in hope that will give them some calcium.

Is there any way to encourage a reluctant hen to use the nest box? Or is there anything I can give them better than yoghurt?

 

[Spikes Chooks]

One (I HOPE only one) of our hens occasionally lays a thin-shelled egg on the floor and they all join in the feast. I actually saw this happen once. The whole flock was gathered around the back of the hen and they all raced after the egg when it came. I grabbed the egg and wouldn't let them have it.

Lately, though, it's been happening early in the morning before I get there. The other day they were all chasing a frozen, shell-less egg around the floor, as if she had laid it when they were all still asleep and it froze on the floor.

I tried giving them oyster shell, but the roo scattered it all around the henhouse every time I put it out and the girls got very little, if any. I've been giving them yoghurt in hope that will give them some calcium.

Is there any way to encourage a reluctant hen to use the nest box? Or is there anything I can give them better than yoghurt?

I have had this happen too. I suspect she doesn't go to the nesting box because it just doesn't feel like an egg to her. I have no doubt it can happen when they are still roosting - they just don't get down and go to the box. Maybe it just feels like a big poop to them...... Once, in the run, I got to it in time, but other times I just find remains in the run or under the roost. However, the only eggs in the nesting box ever eaten have been very thin-shelled ones.

Although I have shell grit out all the time, I noticed the RIR who lays no or thin shelled eggs didn't seem to eat it as often as other hens. So, I have added liquid calcium to their breakfast mash (sold as Calcivet in Australia). And I now add about 1 tablespoon of shell grit to their breakfast mash each morning (it's cheaper!). I have four chickens. Since I have been doing this, she has returned to laying eggs with good shells and I have had no broken/eaten eggs at all.

Got to be worth a try, I suggest. Also, it may not be practical for you, but you can build roll-away nesting boxes, where, once the egg has been laid, no chicken can get to it to eat it.

Good luck!

 

[chicken farmer]

Put a little hole in a raw egg and fill it with food coloring then the egg eater will have a colored beak