Egg eater - mustard trick did not work!

[happyhensny]

Found egg remnants in a nest-came in the house EXTREMELY angry. Emptied an egg, pain to do, filled it with mustard, took it out and put it in the nest box and immediately they all (10 hens!) raced over and ate it!! MUSTARD and all! I grabbed the egg shell when I realised that they like the mustard. GRRRR!

Cannot believe it! They are just a year old and never has happened. Now what? I have round rocks in the nests to deter pecking and now mustard. Please, what can I do. They all have names from my kids so culling the whole flock is not an option. Thanks for any help.

 

[DTchickens]

Take eggs out everytime they lay, leave fake eggs (round rocks may work) in nest, Feed oyster or egg shell (in fine "crumbles" if egg shell)... maybe feed whole eggs smashed up together so they can't tell its a egg and still get what they may be looking for (but.. im guessing its a habit now?)

 

[kelseygirl707]

Fill one with Wasbi HA HA HA HA!

 

[Wynette]

Golf balls in the nest boxes did not work for me when I had a few egg eaters; I had to get wood eggs. You can get them at craft stores (I got some at Jo Ann Fabrics, and ordered more online). I believe one of the only thing that deters them, if you are making "egg bombs" as me and my DH call them, is horseradish.

I also put "curtains" on my nest boxes. I was in a panic to get them stopped, and the curtains look awful...but they did the trick! I set a few egg bombs of horseradish filled eggs, also put a wood egg in each box, and added the curtains. I used an old sheet, nailed it up on the outside of the boxes, across the top, and cut slits in front of each box.

They are most likely lacking in protein; give them meat protein - I believe that helped with my situation as well. I took hot dogs and cut them up and added them to cooked oatmeal....did this each morning for a week, then every other day for a week, then once a week. Throw in a handful of dry cat food as a treat...that's higher in protein, too. Not good to have them on high protein for too long, though.

Also, make sure they have plenty to do! I think that is key. I have a hanging suet feeder that I stuffed FULL of healthy treats such as cabbage and any greens.

Best defense is collecting several times a day. Get the eggs before they can. I did ALL of the above, and my egg eating stopped within a week. GOOD LUCK!

 

[happyhensny]

Do not know if it is a "habit" Just saw the first broken egg remains today. Need to please nip this now before I need to do something drastic. I will go out today and buy some oyster shell. I hope they stop this.

 

[Wynette]

You need to deal with it FAST or it WILL become a habit, unfortunatley. BEST of luck to you!!! Do you/can you freerange them? That will keep them happy as well...more for them to do = less for them to LOOK to do.

 

[DiVon80]

I think you need some fake eggs also!!! Until you get this under control pick up your eggs often and leave the fakes. You can tell when some one lays they announce it to the world. What about them neeeding some calicum grit? If you feed eggs be sure they are cooked.

It could also be boredom!! What type of life do they have activities ect... McMurphy has these blocks of food stuff to hang which is good nutrients and gives them some type of activity. I also like to give them heads of romaine lettuce and just some thing to pick on and they get time to roam the yard(free range) Also calicum grit will help calm them...

 

[happyhensny]

Need to drive my afternoon school bus run then I am out to the store to buy Wasabi (yup I'm trying it!) , wooden eggs and some oyster shell. I am a little afraid to let them out-hawk got one of our hens a couple weeks ago.

 

[LynneP]

When you say 'mustard', you mean dry mustard Like Keen's?

Not yellow mustard with the vinegar, which they adore...right?

 

[Wynette]

OH! Try to pick up a Purina Flock Block! I used them this past winter, when my chooks were penned up inside their small coop. I put one in a small coop with 10 hens in it, and the block lasted almost a month. WELL worth it!!!