Eating Their Eggs-Please Help!

[GuineaLady93]

I have 10 really great hens that are great layers, there is only one problem... They eat their eggs as soon as they lay them. If one goes in the coop to lay, 3-5 will follow them and just watch them until they lay the egg and then they all jump on the egg and eat it in seconds. My question is, is there anything I can do to stop them from eating the eggs??? I really want to keep them. I know I can't sell them because they will make their hens eat eggs too.
So, any advice?

Thanks,
Ashley

 

[Nava]

I use a golf ball , they peck at it and it helps cause they cab bot break the ball.

but it sounds like some thing else to me, you said that they wait for some one to lay an egg and then jump on it as soon as is layed, they might be lacking on calcium, what is their daily diet?

 

[GuineaLady93]

I use a golf ball , they peck at it and it helps cause they cab bot break the ball.

but it sounds like some thing else to me, you said that they wait for some one to lay an egg and then jump on it as soon as is layed, they might be lacking on calcium, what is their daily diet?

They have free choice to Laying Crumbles and cracked corn. And every once and a while they get table scraps and stuff like that.

 

[Nava]

do they free range, or have oyster shells?

 

[Muffinburgler]

Do you have the supplies and time to modify the nest boxes a little? Putting in a slanted floor will roll the egg out of reach until you have time to go and get it. I doubt anything else will work, because once a chicken gets a taste for egg . . . they keep it.

 

[Den in Penn]

They have found out that eggs are good and they want that good food. Try blowing out and egg or two and filling it with something that they will not like. such as hot pepper, mustard or soap. But I think you may have to go to roll out nest boxes, since they are all doing it.

 

[GuineaLady93]

do they free range, or have oyster shells?

No, they don't free range. Yes, they have oyster shells.

 

[Erica]

Use roll nests, or take away nestboxes so they have to lay on the floor (if its shell isn't unusually thin, the egg rolls away easily and can't get eaten, eventually they give up and become normal chickens again).

cheers
Erica

 

[sammyh312]

Thats exactly why i dont throw cracked eggs back into the run and i dont give em egg shells weve used as a calcium supplement, i dont EVER want them to associate their eggs with food.

 

[gracierooster]

I have cut their beaks back a bit, just the top beak and just to take the point off from it. Make sure though that you don't cut too deep and get their beak bleeding, be sure to have some stop bled powder on hand.
You can also put cloth curtains on the next boxes, hens don't like to lay in the dark so as soon as they are done laying they want to get out of the dark.

I might also try to distract them, boil up some pasta, open up some cans of peas, beans, and throw bunchs of it in with some fresh green grass over the entire day, try to distract them from the eggs. I sometimes think that caged chickens get a bit bored and egg eating is a result of that boredome. (not that they don't naturally like their own eggs but if they were busy it might help)

I also think that the roll nests are an excellent way to keep the eggs away from the chickens. Make them so once the eggs roll away then the girls can't get them anymore.

Good Luck