Egg eating hens ...do I have to kill them?

[TillinWithMyPeeps]

Get 'em all in the car, and drive by KFC real slow.

Repeat as needed.

 

[Aneesa's Muse]

Andy123.. that is funny. There's one right up the street ..but I'd rather show them my very sharp pocket knife and a big pot of boiling water...

I think I might try the blown out egg thing ..but can I please put fresh wasabi in it instead of hot mustard? Will fresh wasabi kill them ..or just clear their sinuses, like it does me?

Thanks for the tips and the link and all the ideas... I guess they can live another day

 

[Momma_Cluck]

Also--
often they will step on an egg... if it breaks-- they WILL eat it...
less likely to just intentionally break it...

check your nests/boxes to be sure they are "soft" enough so the eggs are more cushioned and less likely to break if stepped on!

Usually when the chickens eat an egg.. there is no shell left behind! Mine have eaten the broken ones (yolk on the other eggs or feet etc...) So the possibility of rats/mice is legit!

 

[bigzio]

It works really well to place curtains over the entrance to nest as well. Simply cut a slit in the center for entrance to each nest. Egg suckers can't eat eggs they can't see.

Any chicken will eat a broken egg. Sometimes eggs may be broke with hens fighting for the same nest while an egg is present.

Keeping a close eye, collecting eggs often, darken the nests and....see how it goes. I wouldn't give up hope yet.

Nothing but the best!

bigzio

 

[tim_TX]

Yep, hot mustard will do it ... but it will take a few "laced" eggs before they stop. Chickens hate hot mustard, and its yellow which helps from a visual feedback mechanism too. Well, thats my theory and I'm sticking to it.

 

[redhen]

ooh, i thought that birds couldnt taste the "hot" in stuff....maybe its the mustard that they dont like?

 

[Aneesa's Muse]

I love this place! I thought I would be so hard pressed to find answers for my critters ..when my Daddy passed on ...but I haven't been let down whenever I've asked for farm animal advice here ..not once! Thank you all!

bigzio.. I will be making sausages and chicken curtains tomorrow!

 

[dancingbear]

Aneesa's Muse :

I have a very small backyard flock ..3 Black Stars that I raised from chicks ..and Ben, my little Faverolle bantam roo. In the last day or so, I have discovered fewer eggs ..you easily notice this when there's only 3 to be expected anyway

...and I found "chewed up" shells, as well.

I am really sick about this ..I feed them all very well ..take really good care of them ..the whole bit. And this is what I'm rewarded with. I've been ill about it all day, actually. DH just walked in here and said.. "It's raining out now, you may want to go close up the coop... " ...but the way I feel, I really could care less. (I'll put a diaper on Ben and bring him back inside ..and get new hens ..or raise up new chicks for him again)

Harsh? Maybe...

Can I reverse this behavior ...or is it time to stock my freezer with fresh, handraised hens? (I ask, cuz my Daddy and I killed all suspected egg eaters ..he said there was no cure for such behavior ..so it's just what we did, back on our farm.)


~Heartbroken

Darkened nest boxes really help. Once the visual cue is gone, they don't eat the eggs. Hens like to lay eggs in the dark, but very few will eat in the dark.

It isn't true they can't be stopped from this habit, people do it all the time.

It's just instinct, it has nothing to do with being loyal, devoted, chickens or anything like that. Chickens don't really have any concept of "this person takes care of me, I should do this for her..." blah blah blah....

They don't think like people, reason like people, or have the same motivations as people. They aren't doing this to be mean to you. They're just behaving like chickens. All chickens, as was previously stated by another member, will eat eggs if they see one broken, including your beloved Ben. You can raise new ones if you want, but the same thing will happen again unless you correct the conditions that trigger the egg-eating.

"Chewed-up" shell sounds like maybe that one got stepped on and leaked out, I've never seen them leave uneaten shell behind, if they decide to eat an egg. Though it's possible they missed a piece.

ETA: Good luck to you, I hope you can resolve the problem!​

 

[deb1]

I thought the thread was a joke about eggs that eat chickens. I must have gotten up too early because my brain obviously hasn't started working yet.

 

[chook pen jen]

I am in Australia so the weather is similar to yours ,often shells
seem thiner in the winter and break easier ,but I would still try the mustard. Good luck.