Help! Egg yolk eating chickens

[and1223]

HELP!! I really need some advise! We have a serious problem. I have approximately 25 hens 15 months old a mixture of Black Copper Marans, and Bielefelders and they are all addicted to sampling egg yolk. They break a small hole and eat only the yolk.
I feed them Purina Layena pellets, Greens calcium, oyster shell, kitten dry food mixed with scratch for extra protein. I also pick up eggs 2-3 times a day and they beat me to them. I’m just not sure what else to do. I’ve heard to cover the boxes with curtains or add mustard to empty eggs but not sure that’s going to help with this addiction problem. If they are lacking protein, what kind of food should I look for?

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I would add some ceramic eggs, and also change the feed to Purina Flock Raiser, as it has a higher protein content. Make sure there's plenty of bedding in the nest boxes-I know my hens will sometimes eat them if they crack on the nesting box bottom.

How often/much treats do you feed? They shouldn't need the scratch and cat food.

 

[aldarita]

Unfortunately, that is a bad habit some chickens get into and it is very hard to break. It only takes one to start doing it, the others watch, learn and copy. Pretty soon most of the flock has the habit. The trick of adding curtains to the nests works sometimes when there is only one or two with the problem, it seems like you have several. Putting mustard inside the egg IMO is a wasted exercise since chickens do not have very many test buds to dislike the mustard taste. My advice is to change your nests for roll outs. There are some drawings in the internet that you can use to adapt your existing nests or there are some already made that you can buy.

 

[icy_flames]

I second ceramic eggs. You'll have to really stay on top of it when collecting eggs and let them only have access to the fakes. They'll figure out eventually these "rocks" don't dispense goodies anymore. Good luck!

 

[and1223]

I would add some ceramic eggs, and also change the feed to Purina Flock Raiser, as it has a higher protein content. Make sure there's plenty of bedding in the nest boxes-I know my hens will sometimes eat them if they crack on the nesting box bottom.

How often/much treats do you feed? They shouldn't need the scratch and cat food.

Thank you! I I will try that Purina flock raiser. I don’t feed them much treats like meal worms maybe once a month.

 

[and1223]

Thank you! I I will try that Purina flock raiser. I don’t feed them much treats like meal worms maybe once a month.

I also have 6 wooden eggs in their nest boxes that I continue washing them and bedding to remove the smell of egg yolk.