Caught with egg on their face, what to do?

[Milliemay]

I have 2 hens, one Buff Orp and one Cochin that seem to enjoy going in the nesting boxes and eating eggs, it is starting to affect my egg supply. I caught the Buff Orp egghanded with it all over her beak and her breast.

I caught the Cochin a few days ago in a box kicking an egg around and trying to peck it. I am finding at least 3 eggs a day smashed in the nest, and 2 or so with peck marks on them. Will they get over it? I let them out by 9 a.m. every day to free range, are they lacking something in their diet or just enjoying eggs the most? They have layer feed with oyster shell, lots of scraps, and egg shells, and they are outside all day. Do I need to cull them? They don't lay enoguh to replace what they are eating....argh!

Any advice??

Thanks in advance!

 

[chicken crazed 1o1]

You could stick fake eggs in the nest box and when they peck at it they will not get any thing and they will stop .

 

[AlaskGirl]

I just discovered a few doing the same in my flock and one's a goner, the other likely to go as well. They keep tossing the straw out of the nest boxes so I'm going to return to shavings so that it's harder to remove. I hope that if it's softer in there, they can't break them as easily. I don't know what to do but today I'm going to stay close to the coop and watch the bad girls. They're outta here as soon as I see the behavior. I'm so frustrated.

 

[Higins00]

You have to go out to the boxes often and collect the eggs. Stick golf balls in all the nests so when they can't break them they give up.