Anyone else have this egg eating problem

[Birdsong 82]

I just ran into the problem of egg eating myself. So from what I have researched and tried I think the only way to solve it is a rollaway nest box which I am building right now. It’s a habit that’s almost impossible to break. I hear lots of people say go collect eggs several times a day but I leave for work before the chickens are even awake for the day and get home just before sundown

 

[Birdsong 82]

I’m not going to get too involved in a debate about what chickens do or don’t know.

A couple of points though:

I was responding to the question posed by Taylettice “has anyone else had this happen”

My reply at its most basic is yes, often, you are entitled to disagree with my opinion as to why it happens.

It would seem from Taylettice’s later post the her very stupid chicken can tell the difference between a fake and real egg; maybe the idea that this very stupid chicken can tell her own eggs from others isn’t so far fetched in the light of this.

I don’t have a flock. Here, we have tribes, that’s the natural arrangement for chickens.

Flocks are for birds and geese.

You may find this a very strange viewpoint but the eggs belong to the chicken and in my view they can do what they want with their eggs; seems reasonable to me; even acceptable, apparently not to you.



If only I could get the hens to lay eggs in egg boxes!

Most hens here lay there eggs in the woods, the fields, on top of old tree stumps, under bushes and in my house; occasionally during the winter months or after a spat of predator attacks they might graciously consider making my life easy by laying in one of the egg boxes is their houses, I won’t be holding my breath.

I was also going on and Easter egg hunt through the yard every day trying to collect eggs. But then I decided that my chicken stay in there run till about noon sometimes 10 AM after they are done playing the eggs. Then I let them out to for the range and after about 2 to 3 weeks of this if they wanted to lay in egg they came running back to the coop.You could give that a shot because Easter egg hunts were fun when I was young but they’re not as much fun anymore