CHICKENS EATING THEYRE OWN EGGS?!

[frankie5316]

MY CHICKEN EATS HER OWN EGGS RIGHT AFTER SHE LAYS THEM! WHAT DO I DO! CAN I STOP HER?

 

[Chirpy]

This can be very difficult to stop.

I had one of my hens start to do that but I was able to stop her by putting very hot tobasco sauce in a blown-out egg shell that I then put back into the nest box. She cracked it open, got one taste and, thus far, hasn't touched another egg. That was several months ago so I'm hoping she won't ever start again.


Some people have said that all you can do is cull the chicken(s) that are doing it as the others will likely learn from her behavior.

Good luck. That is one of the most frustrating things to deal with having chickens.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Do a search on "egg eating" and you will find a bunch of suggestions. i tried some with a group of hens i adopted last year. i filled blown eggs with hot mustard and then wasabi. They still ate them right up. i draped off the nesting boxes so it would be dark and they could not see the eggs. i increased their protein, with mealworms, cat food, and yogurt. i gave them extra treats. i tried gathering eggs frequently (like waiting directly behind their vents and grabbing them as soon as they came out).

For me, nothing worked, and i ended up rehoming them. i did not want to try to integrate them into the rest of my flock and have a whole herd of egg eaters.

Sorry! It's a tough habit to break.

 

[tnkinhunting]

I have heard of tilting the nest box backward(or forward) and raising the back wall (or front) a couple of inches where when they lay the egg it rolls out of the box into, say a wire trough like they do at egg production plants. They can't get to them to eat them. Little labor intensive but don't see why it wouldn't work. I didn't build mine, but if I had, I would of modified it in this way.

 

[Bossroo]

Chicken pot pie is the tasteest and most effective solution by far !!!