Egg Eaters

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bigredfeather

bigredfeather

Songster
11 Years
Oct 1, 2008
2,194
54
211
Yorkshire, Ohio
I am having a huge problem with egg eaters. I have 3 pens in 2 different barns where it is going on. I am losing about a dozen eggs a day. Anybody have a proven method to stop it that doesn't include culling the guilty ones? Does anyone know the possible causes for this behavior?
 
Hi bigredfeather,

I've cured a small flock of this behaviour, but if the original circumstances are still there (weak shelled eggs or predators breaking eggs in the nest) it will return.

What I've done is to lock the birds in a smaller shed/pen with no nesting material or nestboxes and just a plain level floor. Do this for a couple of weeks. The hens will lay on the floor and the eggs (as long as they have a normal shell) will roll away from pecking. There may be a few cracks at one end of the egg but you'll almost never find an egg eaten (unless your hens have some knack I haven't seen).
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Normally to eat an egg they roll it into a corner of the nestbox, or trap it among the nest material and stomp. Some hens also push an egg out of the nestbox onto the ground... My method works against all of these, though you do get dirty eggs for a while. Eventually you'll find they leave all eggs alone and then you can think about what the original problems were and maybe alter the nestbox arrangement (more nestboxes, roomier and with rubber mats or astroturf instead of hay).

Making them lay on open ground breaks the association hens make between egg laying noises and yummy treats. People say put golf balls in the nest but they don't work on determined egg eaters. Mustard/chilli eggs don't work for very long, though I'm sure some people have had success.

Anyhow, that's my take on it -- hope it helps.

PS If the above sounds too hard, might as well go for a roll nest. They usually work.
 
I have had egg eaters a few times and have, thus far, always stopped the issue by blowing out a couple of eggs and filling them with a really spicy hot sauce.

To blow out the eggs you poke a small hole in each end (I use a pin or tack to poke the hole - carefully wiggle it around to make the hole a little less than 1/8" around); stick a toothpick into the egg and 'scramble' the egg with it. Then, put your mouth over one end and blow until the inside comes out the other side (you get to have scrambled eggs with it!). I use a syringe (with no needle) and fill it with hot sauce, then squirt it into one end, holding my finger over the other end so it doesn't leak out. I fill the egg about 1/4 full of sauce (you don't want it running out either hole) and set them in several nest boxes. I leave those eggs there indefinitely. They are generally 'eaten' within a day by the culprit and I have yet to need to repeat the process for many, many months.

I know others who have tried this and it didn't work for them. Get a REALLY spicy hot sauce and good luck.
 
Thank you for the ideas. I will try one of them on one of the pens and try the other on the rest. I have also heard that blinders will do it sometimes, but I find that hard to believe. I am really wonderinng what condition has brought this about. I would like to take care of what has caused the problem. All these hens are under 2 years old, and I have never had this problem with them until recently.
 

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