Chickalee the egg eater

[gottsegnet]

I was going to hop on this morning and ask for advice on a chicken that just started breaking eggs. My husband was ready to fry her up, but she's my 2yo's chicken and she dearly loves her.

Still for the last week, all of her eggs have been broken and devoured and most of the other eggs.

Last night I tore the house apart looking for a golf ball. Finally found one, but thought one might not be enough. Still, it's all I had. On an impulse, I grabbed some bedding and a handful of scrap paper.

I filled everywhere they've ever laid an egg with a thick layer of bedding and wadded up paper and then threw the golf ball in the nest box for good measure.

This morning I got an egg from the australorp and little Chickalee! The golf ball had been attacked and moved pretty far from its starting point and all the paper wads were moved about, but the eggs were safe!

Hoping if this lasts, Chickalee will give up her egg attacking and spare her little life!

She's the red sex link in the middle, examining the box I brought the baby chicks out in:

 

[NancyinAlaska]

I rehomed 4 hens last week, they were like a gang, seeing another going into the nesting box, hovering on the perch outside poking under her, trying to eat the egg. It was the same 4 2 year old hens and I could actually sit and watch the behavior. Put an honest ad on craigslist, told about the egg eating, and sold them for $15 a piece. Worked out well for all of us.

 

[gottsegnet]

Two days in a row collecting all the eggs and none broken. Chickalee even laid her egg in with another egg and didn't break either one.

There's hope!

 

[kipper]

We have an egg eater, too. We keep a few platic easter eggs in each box, and have recently added some solid fake eggs sold at easter. This helps a little, as does frequent checking for eggs. My DH put some mustard on the fake eggs and it also seemed to help for a while, but we still catch Della hunting for eggs. She is nice and plump ( maybe from eating so many eggs???) and may be culled soon if she keeps it up.

We have fewer eggs eaten now that frequent checking is going on. That's what I suggest you try!

 

[gottsegnet]

I was going to pick up some plastic eggs, but she seems to have been broken of it. No eggs have been broken since we thickened the bedding and filled the box with paper wads and a golf ball.

Today, I dropped an egg shell on the way to the compost pile and she came running for it. When she caught up and saw what it was, she just wandered off. Just last week I saw her attack an egg shell as if it were the juiciest worm she'd ever seen, so I think she's decided to move. I think we must have caught her early enough. She only did it for a week or so, and didn't always get every egg.

They've also been out ranging more, so maybe boredom had something to do with it. But I overslept this morning and didn't get to opening the coop until 10. There were already 2 eggs laid, and neither were cracked!