Hens Eating Eggs

[hiddenflock]

Our flock of eight hens used to give us six-seven eggs a day. Now we get one-three eggs a day. It was a mystery until this morning our oldest hen was caught rolling a egg out of the duck pen. Later we found a broken duck egg with all the contents eaten. In the chicken pen. We think our chickens are eating their own eggs too. They have a pen with greens to eat and setting up a TV to keep them entertained is sadly not an option. Any ideas for identifying/stopping the egg eaters?

 

[chikkenfriend]

Once they start, I think it's kinda hard to stop. Once they decide they like their own eggs, you're in trouble.

Can you beat them to the eggs? We had an issue with this in the beginning and that's really all I found (well, that and the calcium thing). We pick up early now. No more problem, thank God.

Also, are they getting enough calcium? Oyster shell? We keep it out for them constantly and in multiple places. They eat quite a bit of it, too.

Identifying them wasn't an issue for us. We had two hens that always had yolk on theirs faces. They were also our oldest hens.

Good luck. I hope you get it solved.

 

[Aniy]

Hi, I am new here. I saw your post and just knew I had to reply! This same happened with my chickens last month and I was devastated when I read I would have to cull the egg eater from my flock. But, I read an awesome tip on another site. I cant remember where though, so I am sorry that I can not give credit to the original inventor. Blow out an egg and fill with mustard. Seal the open ends with some candle wax and place in the egg box. My girls stopped eating eggs the moment they broke open the mustard filled egg. I hope this will work for you. Good luck.

 

[hiddenflock]

Thanks! We will have to try the mustard trick. The strangest thing is that their eggs aren't enough for them. They harvest the duck eggs through 2" 4" fence by rolling them into the chicken pen.

 

[dsbailey70]

You might also try getting a couple (or a few) ceramic eggs. They have the same finish as a normal egg, but they are solid. When I saw my 10 week old BR peck at a real egg, I distracted her, and replaces it with the fake one. She pecked at it a few times, and then quit; I guess because she didn't mak any progress. Idk, she could've just been curious about the egg too. One of my Partridge Silkies decided to be lazy, and lay her egg downstairs in the run...lol Aniy, good idea with the mustard trick!