- Dec 5, 2010
- 821
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I had this in several flocks. Such a pain, very contagious!
Below are my methods for dealing with egg eating:
- To find the culprit/culprits, take a hard boiled egg into the pen. Roll it along the ground and see which hens start trying to peck it.
- Roll nests do work, but they can be expensive and some hens learn to reach into the egg compartment. Hens also don't like roll nests much, so may lay in strange places.
- Mustard/chilli in blown eggs doesn't work long term.
- Toughen eggshells. If they're a little weaker than usual they break in the nest and encourage egg eating. Increase the calcium and make sure water is always clean and there is no bad feed (digestive upsets inhibit calcium absorption).
- Now for the cure! Remove all culprits and put them in a cage/shed with no nestboxes or litter *at all*, only a bare floor (earth or concrete). The eggs need to be able to roll anywhere. For a while you'll see beak-cracks in one end of the eggs, but there should be no eaten eggs (if there are, perhaps your hens are smarter than mine were...
). A week or two of this and the hens should have no interest in eggs at all. NB This relies on reasonably firm egg shells and nothing in the shed/pen the eggs can be easily trapped against.
I think the above cure is better than golf balls (and more certain) because it breaks the association between the noises a hen makes just after laying, and yummy food.
Good luck!
regards
Erica
Below are my methods for dealing with egg eating:
- To find the culprit/culprits, take a hard boiled egg into the pen. Roll it along the ground and see which hens start trying to peck it.
- Roll nests do work, but they can be expensive and some hens learn to reach into the egg compartment. Hens also don't like roll nests much, so may lay in strange places.
- Mustard/chilli in blown eggs doesn't work long term.
- Toughen eggshells. If they're a little weaker than usual they break in the nest and encourage egg eating. Increase the calcium and make sure water is always clean and there is no bad feed (digestive upsets inhibit calcium absorption).
- Now for the cure! Remove all culprits and put them in a cage/shed with no nestboxes or litter *at all*, only a bare floor (earth or concrete). The eggs need to be able to roll anywhere. For a while you'll see beak-cracks in one end of the eggs, but there should be no eaten eggs (if there are, perhaps your hens are smarter than mine were...
I think the above cure is better than golf balls (and more certain) because it breaks the association between the noises a hen makes just after laying, and yummy food.
Good luck!
regards
Erica
