Help...I have a canibal chicken

[gibsonbuzz]

I have a chicken that eats an average of 6-8 eggs a day if I don't get to the coop early enough. From what I've been reading, chicken s are dumb and if I isolate her from the rest for a couple weeks, she will forget how good they are and stop eating them. The only other option I have is the roaster. buaahhhhahhahhahh.

 

[Pinky]

There are many ways to stop her from eating eggs. Separating her would probably work, but I've never tried that for egg eaters. Some people use golf balls and I use blown eggs filled with mustard. What works on some chickens doesn't always work on others. I hope you solve your problem. Good luck.

 

[sourland]

Separate her from the others before she teaches them this habit. I would keep her in solitary or cull her. Egg eating once started is very difficult to stop, and the behavior is "contagious."

 

[gibsonbuzz]

Ok, I tried the musterd method today, and regulary collected eggs. They ate all five musterd eggs. I just prepared 4 more for tomorrow. How lond do you think it might take with this method?

 

[Pinky]

Sometimes mustard in blown eggs doesn't work. Some people have tried vinegar in blown eggs too. You may have to separate her for a while or cull her.
It only took two mustard eggs to fix my hen. I used that real tangy cheap mustard, not the same kind my family eats.

 

[dsqard]

Are you sure it is only one eating the eggs? If so I agree with Pinky get her out of the coop. If you keep her separated, maybe hard fake eggs might work. That way she might learn that eggs are too hard to peck open. Another option is roll away nests where the egg drops down so the hen can't get to it. If you search for roll away nests you might get a better description.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I agree with the above poster. She may not be the only hen but if she is she'll teach the others. I think roll out nest boxes would be a good solution without culling all your egg eaters.

 

[jasonm11]

eggs and mustard? sounds like liquid egg salad to me...mmm mmm good

 

[Judy]

If the mustard didn't work on one day, it won't work the next. If she's not already separated she has likely taught the others. Rollaway nest boxes are probably your only hope.

 

[gibsonbuzz]

Well...looking at my live chicken cam, I can see that she is the one breaking the eggs open, and a couple others just bite into the treat. She's in 2wks solitary confinement now. Lets see how it goes.