Egg Eaters

[team edward]

I have a few hens that constantly eat eggs. Its becoming a HUGE problem as I sell my eggs. How do I stop this? Thanks

 

[Ridgerunner]

Once you identify them, remove them from the flock permanently. That is how I handled it. They learn from each other. Sometimes it is one hen that cracks the egg, then some others join her in eating the egg. But before too long, the others start learning to open the eggs themselves.

You can build rollaway nest boxes. You can try a search in here or maybe try Google. With these, the egg rolls where the hen cannot get to it to eat it.

Some people claim success in breaking them by putting weird stuff in an egg for them to eat, like hot mustard, or putting fake eggs in the nest so they are pecking on wood or something hard when they try to eat one, combined with gathering the eggs real often. I've never tried this so I can't say how successful any of this is.

Good luck!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Sometimes they do it because they're not getting enough protein. You can also try improving their diet.

 

[team edward]

I caught two eaters and put them in the "naughty" chicken pen, but I still have one or two more. I don't think their diet is a problem, as I feed them high quality feed, and they have a "Flock Block" to peck and scratch for extra protein. I tried putting mustard in an egg a few years ago, but they liked it

 

[01ChickenGranny]

Chop off their heads. Mustard definately didn't work for me.

 

[tyjaco]

Chop off their heads. Mustard definately didn't work for me.

compassion at it's best