Egg eater deterrent. Yellow Mustard... what else?

[cybercat]

Only sure fire cure is a roll away nest box. When egg is laid it rolls away from hen where she can not get it. You can find directions on how to make one here on BYC just do a search.

 

[UK Chicken rancher]

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I waited a couple of days and watched her closely in the afternoon waiting for her to lay. She did and promptly broke it and ate it again
I didn’t want to give up as this is a valuable hen from an exceptional line. So I decided to try another mixture. Again I drew out the egg and this time replaced it with a mixture of yellow mustard, Bitter apple (available at pet stores to stop dogs from chewing} and cayenne pepper. Then I sealed the hole with wax and soaked the shell with bitter apple, hopefully making the shell bitter to the taste too. Walking out I figured she would break it quickly and she didn’t disappoint me. But she didn’t eat very much of it and walked around scraping her beak from side to side on the ground. I left the egg for the rest of the day and then removed the rest of it. The next day I put a new “hot” egg in the pen and she paid no attention to it. They have not broken another egg but I left a “hot” egg in the pen for over a week. I think she may have learned her lesson. The next time I have this problem I know exactly what I will do to stop it early.

That's interesting that you mentioned this because I've been wondering if it's my rooster that is the problem. I end up with 1 broken egg daily and never catch the culprit. I tried blocking off the next boxes that they are in but that only worked for awhile. Then I put each hen in a cage until they laid and none of them ate the eggs, but didn't try the roo. Have other's had problems with the roo's eating eggs? I think I will try the surprise filled egg idea as well! So frusterating that I almost wanted to go out of the chicken business, this gives me new hope!

 

[Sequin]

Not sure what your set up is like, but I found one of my hens eating an egg once and thought for Sure I had an egg-eater for life. Well, maybe she still is, but I doubt it. I supplement the flock with a high protein mash nearly daily - at least ever other day for now. I also allowed them more area to free range. This has seemed to work and my egg production has increased. No one seems to be remotely interested in the eggs laid in the nesting boxes now.

yay us. So, maybe a hot protein rich mash and more space to free-range will help your girl get over the egg-obsession as well?

 

[UK Chicken rancher]

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What do you put in your mash if you don't mind me asking?

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

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What do you put in your mash if you don't mind me asking?

Since I last posted, I got several ceramic eggs that look just like real, and seem to have confused them enough that no eggs are getting eaten. At least I'm seeing no evidence, and some days I'm getting 9 eggs from 9 layers, even with 24" of snow on the ground.

Of course the ceramic eggs confuse my housemates, and they sometimes gather them with the real eggs. I guess they're convincing!

I read on here about someone using 'Calf Manna' to supplement their chicken feed. My feed store didn't have that, but they had something similar, which is also high in protein and other good things. I've been giving them a cup of that in their food every day or so. It was primarily to fatten up a young pullet in with the big girls, but it seems to be keeping the laying going. (mine are on lights, but not heat). I wonder if my initial egg eating was just the result of a broken egg.

 

[swheat]

I had a few hen in different pens that were eating eggs. I first used the painted wooden egg (it worked on one of the hens) the others stopped after filling eggs with mustard and the bitter apple that has already been mentioned. I put both mustard and the bitter apple in eggs and I don't have any eggs eaters any more.

 

[Sequin]

I usually start with a base of Flock Raiser crumble and then add some of the following depending on what I have on hand: a small cup of high quality salmon and rice dog food(made by Nature's Variety), a cup of scratch grains, any leftover meat or eggs that were found with small cracks in them, some sort of healthy oil like hemp oil or olive oil or a smidge of cod liver oil, some sort of calcium supplement (such as the shells from the eggs that were found with cracks in them), oats, cooked brown rice, etc etc etc. I mix it all with hot water until it is the consistency of yogurt. The chickens all LOVE it. It doesn't have to be an exact science, but I try to include high quality natural items that will aid in increasing protein levels. I also will put in organic kelp if I have it. I think kelp offers a variety of health benefits and the girls all seem to like it. They also have a large feeder with layer crumble in it available all day as they are out free ranging. It is funny how now that they have been getting this hot breakfast treat whenever I walk through the gate they all come running and follow me around. Oh, did I ever mention that I Love my chickens?!

If you don't have Flock Raiser you can use layer crumble as your base and just add items from there. Generally I try to shred and mix everything so that everyone is getting pretty much the same ration of ingredients. Hope this helps some!!! Happy feeding!!!

 

[Bantimna]

What about using sour apple vineger. My mom has a recipe where she mixes onions, apple vinegar in a dish and lets it ferment for a day. And removes the onions. It's super sour.