Chickens Eating Eggs

[Jim41]

I fond two of my rir eating a soft shell egg that one chicken has been laying whie on the roost. and now I found two eggs in the nest boxes with what looks like small holes pecked in them and part of one shell . What to do?

 

[Wynette]

OH, it's a terrible habit for them to get into, for sure! Lots of folks say to cull the birds doing the eating, but I went through this once, and with diligence, I was able to completely stop it, and (knock wood) I haven't had issues since (it's been about a year).

First thing, and most effective, collect eggs often! That's the VERY best way to get them to stop, by now allowing them to even get to the point of pecking.

If you have one laying softshell eggs, take a look at your nutritional support. Are they on layer feed? Do they have free choice oyster shell? The oyster shell is extremely important for layers. It helps make the shells hard.

Egg eating can also be caused by low protein in their diets; what I do to supplement for this is throw in a handful of dry cat food about once every few weeks. If this were my flock, I'd throw in the dry cat food (as a treat) 2-3 times per week for the first week, then taper off to once a week.

Next, get some wooden eggs. Some folks say to use golf balls, but my chickens weren't convinced they were eggs! YOu can get wooden eggs at any craft store. Put one or two in each nest box. The idea is that they'll try to peck the wood eggs and realize they can't get through the "shells" and so they give up. Move the wood eggs around so they are not in the same place in the nest box each day.

I also put a "curtain" over the front of my nest boxes. I took an old sheet and cut it the size to cover all the openings, and then tacked it up with nails, and then cut a slit from the bottom up, in the middle of each nest box. This way, they can get in, lay their eggs, and when they get out, they don't have a full view of the eggs in teh box - the idea being, out of sight, out of mind.

I also blew out some eggs and put horseradish sauce in...I'm not convinced on how much (if at all) this helped, because chickens cannot taste "hot" in foods. But, I did everything at the same time, so I'm not sure. I WILL say that none of the horseradish eggs got eaten completely, so maybe the truly did not like them?

Also, make sure they have plenty to do in their run. If there are things to keep them busy and interested in being out of the coop except to just lay eggs and sleep at night, that will also help. I hang suet feeders in their run and stuff them with healthy treats so that they have to work to get them out (cabbage, greens, slices of melon/veggies, etc.).

You CAN break them of the habit, but you DO have to be diligent in your efforts!

BEST of luck!

 

[chookchick]

Yes, everything that Wynette said!
And do remember, young pullets are prone to laying soft-shell/no shell eggs, so this may just be an anomaly. But do your best to stop it pronto.

 

[kees]

Would Bitter Apple work? It's supposed to be the most bitter substance on earth. Or, how about baiting one of the eggs by slathering it in raw onion juice?

Suzy

 

[Wynette]

The problem is that chickens don't really taste "hot" in foods...really, your best defense is to collect often so they don't have an opportunity to eat eggs. It actually is just a habit they get into, and the longer they do it, the harder it is to break. So, if you catch it soon enough and redirect them, you can easily break the habit. Giving them LOTS to do outside the coop, IMO, was the key (in addition to collecting eggs often).

 

[Jim41]

Thanks everyone great advice. I try and get eggs as soon as pos. yesterday I got 10 good eggs 1 soft shell out of 15 of my RIR . No cracked ones. Two were double yokers. yeah!!

 

[Wynette]

Good work, Jim41! Keep that up, and you'll have no issues with egg eating!