Arizona Chickens

[squeakyballs]

Here's a crazy contraption someone built so that the eggs roll away from the egg eater... https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4644873

In another thread they suggest blowing out an egg and refilling it with hot mustard. After a few of those surprises she should give up.

It could also be a dietary problem ... if she isn't getting enough calcium (dark leafy greens and oyster shell) or protein.

 

[gckiddhouse]

Okay, so I read a little more from the forum about what people do/have done about egg eaters. Thanks Tofu for the contraption link. That got me looking. We have 8 nesting boxes, so I don't know when the opportunity/time for me to build 8 contraptions will come along, but maybe someday.

I wondered if putting hot sauce or something like that in an egg would help, and sure enough, there are folks who have used that method. Our local Chinese food restaurant has the best hot mustard and it is HOT. I love it, but if I get more than just a tiny drop, whoooooo! So, I may try that. The other thing that sounds smart is to keep wooden eggs or golf balls in the boxes. I have just never done that.

One person suggested giving them a protein treat like scrambled eggs and then they would stop. I'm not sure I buy that, but I am happy to try it. When I had a picking problem, folks said that if they were low on protein, they would pick, and that if I increased their protein they would stop. I didn't buy that either, but I tried it. Didn't work. I think a habit is a habit. Once it starts it is hard to break.

So, for now, Darla is just in for a surprise, but not the soup pot. I hope something works. I am kinda betting on the hot mustard...

On another topic - we put our homeschooled son in a local prep academy this year. It is a great school except for the Math program. It is terrible.!!!! I am meeting with the Math teacher today, but I don't expect to get very far. Wish me luck! Ugh!

 

[gckiddhouse]

Quote:
Well, animals LOVE raw eggs!! Any one who gets a taste of one is going to go after more. What she is - is smart, well, for a chicken.

When we get dirty, unappetizing eggs, I just beak em into the dog's bowl. He loves them, too!

I dropped an egg in the coop once an it busted. The entire thing was gone in less than 15 seconds. Those chickens just ate it right up, shell and all.

God must have made those shells to carefully hide that yum inside so they wouldn't know it was there, but Darla figured out where it comes from.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Hot sauce will not help. Birds do not have the same sort of spicy heat taste buds that humans do. What will help is trimming the beak very close to the quick, or even slightly into it. Then give her marble or ceramic eggs. Pecking them will HURT and not be productive.

One reason birds will eat eggs is hunger, so having food available 24/7 helps avoid that as a cause.

 

[dofnup]

I am also skeptical about the hot sauce. In Mexico it is a well established knowledge that parrots LOVE chiles. We always feed our pet parrots chiles as treats. The logo for Guacamaya sauce is a macaw with a chile in its claw. We even have a saying for people who can eat a lot of chile, we say they have "a parrot's tongue"!

I know that parrots =/= chickens, but how much different can they be? I think chile would not affect a bird like it would a mammal.

But that is just my opinion, I have no scientific data to back it up. I will, however volunteer my chickens for an experiment. I will give them some chile this afternoon and tell you how it goes!

 

[gckiddhouse]

Yeah, my chickens ate up all my jalapeños from the garden. I think that is why mustard is the suggestion. It isn't something that affects the taste buds, it burns your sinuses and passage ways. Have you experienced this burn with Chinese mustard? I don't know a reason why this wouldn't affect any animal with sinuses, olfactory nerves and airways. But do tell if you know of a reason it won't. Someone did say that their hen liked the mustard, but I don't know if she used a good one. Some hot mustard is just mustard.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Hi gckiddhouse, I'm glad you're going to try to break your bird of egg eating; I'm very curious as to how it turns out. I agree, chili peppers won't work. Chili peppers are hot to humans because the active ingredient in peppers, capsaicin, stimulates pain receptors in mammals. It does not in other organisms. As you know, birds love chilis. I think you're onto something with the mustard. I'll ask my chef friend about the most offensive mustard. Has anyone tried wasabe? It's japanese horseradish and quite pungent.

Rufus: the death by Cold Stone Creamery quip has had me giggling since you posted it. What a way to go.

 

[rufus]

Well, my coop is made out of salvaged junk from the alley, I found an old cabinet out there. I took the back off of it, it is now the front of the nest box. I put in dividers making three nests on the top self and three on the botton. A false back was put in sitting about two and half inches up from the bottom.

Now since the whole box arrangement is tilted slightly, the eggs roll gently back in the nest under the false back. No way can they get to the eggs. All I have to do is open the cabinet doors, and there are the eggs.

Chickens are not very bright, and after a while without having eggs to eat they will forget about it.

This worked for me.

Rufus

 

[vegaschick]

Quote:
I think we need a picture of this cool repurposed cabinet/nest box thing. I'm a visual learner and while I don't have a need for that now...prevention is the best solution!

 

[gckiddhouse]

Quote:
I think we need a picture of this cool repurposed cabinet/nest box thing. I'm a visual learner and while I don't have a need for that now...prevention is the best solution!

I'll second that request.