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

[citygal/countrygalRN]

I had chickens eating eggs. One would even fight to get in the nestbox when another was laying. I made a new box that has the back roll out set up, and I haven't had any more evidence of eating. They just can't get to them!

See the pictures posted by OpaSam, he made one and I made a similar copy. My carpentry is not half as beautiful, but it works!

 

[katrinag]

Chickens could care less if you put hot mustard in them, I have read that they can not feel the heat.

 

[sandypaws]

i have tryed to hot sauce thing.. it never worked for me..
if you dont want to kill them.. then cut the tops of there beaks off.. i do this when i find eaten eggs, the 4 hens i suspect get there beaks clipped... they can still eat and drink like normal..
just the top part, the tip where the beak hooks.. and it WILL GROW BACK,,, unless you use heat..
i just clipp with a dog nail cutter,, it will bleed, so i stop the bleeding with KWIK STOP....

 

[sandypaws]

mine are very well fed too...
my chickens start this bad habbit out of boardom.. living in the desert, even tho their yard is 80feet X 250 feet,, there is NOTHING for them to scratch through or pick at.. so they start picking at the eggs in the nest...

so once evey few months i have to cut beaks.. luckly it is just 4 hens out of 80...

 

[Aneesa's Muse]

Thanks again, everyone.

I got 3 eggs from 3 hens today ..and "my beloved Ben" was in the nest when I got them. Two were even double yolked!

The nest boxes are darker now.. no curtains yet ...working on color and material

Once it dries off some ..it's been pouring rain here for a couple days ..very unlike Bay Area weather.... I will work on some fancy "fall out" nest boxes, too.

As for mutilating them ...I think I'd rather eat them than disfigure them, but that's just me.

 

[bigzio]

Glad to hear things are better than before.

I agree that some options just aren't a option here either.

Way to go, with simple solutions that work, for you and your flock....kinda win, win, eh!

bigzio

 

[TicketyBoo]

I've had an ongoing egg-eating saga going on around here for a couple years now.
First batch of hens were from the neighbors, they also gave me this beautiful roo. The hens were old and died but I kept the Roo who then proceeded to teach my next batch of home-raised Barred Rocks how to eat eggs. I was not amused. I gave the whole lot of them away to someone who was going to cage them. Beautiful chickens, a shame to eat them really.

Then I started fresh with a more docile breed, and if they didn't start eating eggs too! I was so frustrated. Feed store recommended putting salt in their water. Can't say that that helped, but they have now stopped eating eggs and we are living happily ever after.

I believe they turned to eggs when they ran out of water (it would freeze overnight) or when they got bored (only so many kitchen scraps can be found!). Or I also noticed them getting more frantic about the eggs when the weather got colder, but when it was milder, they didn't seem to care as much. Now I'm consistently getting eggs from all of them.

Oh and the habit started because they would lay on top of the nest boxes, the egg would roll down between the wall and box then go splat right in front of their faces. Can't beat that for service, they didn't even have to crack the shell! Then of course they figured out how to open the shells and so on.
BUT just when I thought I'd have to start wringing necks, they've stopped. Maybe they've just settled into the routine?

 

[gordy123]

THIS IS FOR ALL YOU FOLKS WHO HAVE EGG EATING CHICKENS...AN OLD FARMER AND DEAR FRIEND TOLD US WHEN OUR BIRDS ARRIVED, IF THOSE CHICKENS START TO EAT THEIR EGGS, THEN YOU FEED THEM EGGS. WHAT THE CHICKEN IS LACKING IS CALCIUM AND PROTEIN IN THE DIET. OUR HENS NEVER DID EAT THEIR EGGS... BUT WE GAVE THEM EGGS SCRAMBLED 1X PER WEEK TO START. THEY ATE UP! AS TIME WENT ON THEY REALLY DIDN'T GOBBLE THEM DOWN ANYMORE. NOW, FROM TIME TO TIME WE OFFER THE SCRAMBLED EGGS AS A TREAT. WE ALSO ADD MILK TO THE SCRAMBLED EGGS OR POUR MILK OVER WHOLE WHEAT OR SOME TYPE OF NUTRITIOUS BREAD. SOME CHICKENS DON'T LIKE OYSTER SHELLS. DON'T BE TOO HARD ON YOUR FLOCK..THEY ARE JUST DOING WHAT COMES NATURAL, LIKE ANY OF GODS OTHER CREATURES. GOOD LUCK! HOPE THIS WORKS FOR YA!

 

[bigzio]

Yep, good nutrition is the key to happy hens. One can make many changes to accomplish the end result of satisifed hens...and that is the key in regards to keeping them happy hens, and not having a flock looking for trouble.

I always keep their feed the most important ingredient to a happy flock.

It's of course more than just a flock of chickens, eh? Poultry fanciers are passionate folks. (like you didn't know) welcome !

bigzio

 

[Aneesa's Muse]

My girls are not eating eggs anymore, fortunately... and I didn't change their diet one bit. They eat better than we do most days, as it is! I mean, we eat good ..don't get me wrong... but if we're on the run and really, really busy ...Ben and the Triplets definitely get better fare.

A run down of what my gang gets daily ..and then randomly during the week..

Layena, Starter and Scratch ...a handful of mealworms or some high quality cat kibble, mixed in (that's EACH) ..and fresh greens, scraps, etc. Not to mention their run has various things in it to plunder..

Throughout the week, I make them "chicken cakes" and give them cottage cheese or yogurt or both ..Ben dances for string cheese, so they get that just for my entertainment.. LOL I also add Black Oil sunflower seeds, oats, and oyster shell a few times a week. I scramble eggs with shells ..and make them hot oatmeal. I have made them steamed brown rice, but I'm too weary of them having a problem if a grain dried out and they ate it later or something ..so I cook couscous or small pastas up for them. They even get all the fresh sprouts that result from the tossed seeds in the scratch grains, etc. ...they love those tender shoots of various things!

Anyway... my gang is SPOILED!!! Toys.. trips inside the house.. heated coop (if needed) ...their own fountain ...they have it made!

I'm just glad they have stopped their ugly behaviour ..and whether it was a fluke or what ..I didn't have to do too much more to deter them.

As for being kind to them and all that.. I run a rescue for some of the most hated, unwanted animals on the planet ..so I will not mistreat them in any way..... but ..and it's a sizeable "but" ...they are "farm animals" and I was raised to believe that such animals either fulfilled their purpose or they fulfilled another's purpose.

We treated dogs and cats the same ..you guard and herd ..you keep the mice population down ...or you go away. That was my Daddy's way...