Caught the culprit! My own hen!

[Saffy]

I caught my hen in the act of eating an egg! I have 10 hens in my chicken trailer, some days I get 8 eggs, the next 1 if I'm lucky. Well, I caught my delaware hen in the nest box pecking away at an egg. I caught her, dragged her out my the tail feathers and put her in a cage. Is there any hope for her? Or will she have to be crock pot supper? I tried feeding the dog food but it did not help. Maybe I did not feed the right kind or enough. Any ideas on how to stop this.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Egg eaters on my yard get eaten, by me and mine!

Chicken and dumplings is always a good dish.

 

[illinichick]

I know I have one but catching WHICH one is the problem.

 

[zippy11455]

Look for dried egg yolk on the feathers around their beak. That will tell you who the culprit is. You can isolate that hen out if you want. Then the egg eater won't be teaching all the others the new trick.

Then supplement their diet with a source of calcium (if you haven't already). Oyster shell or dried/crushed up eggs shells are both good sources. It the shells are thick it will be harder for them to peck open the egg. Often they learn to eat eggs when the shells are so thin they break when they lay the egg.

Collect the eggs as soon as they lay them if you can. This will reduce the time they have a chance to eat them.

Last resort for a hen that won't quit eating eggs is to eat her.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

Well, if it were a beloved hen then I might try and seperate her if you have more than one coop.

I love chicken n dumplings too so that is always an option....