help I have a chicken eating eggs.

[jorj]

OK so I have this chicken named chirpy. right. she has always had a problem with some times pecking eggs. but it has gotten so out of hand lately she has been laying eggs and turning around to eat them. she also watches other chickens and she pounces right as they lay. to get any eggs lately I have had to literally catch it falling. I would eat her but If anyone has any other suggestions I would want to try to stay away from that option. I have tried fake eggs already and she just keeps doing it.

 

[parvani]

Remove her before she teaches the other hens to eat eggs.

 

[jorj]

Remove her before she teaches the other hens to eat eggs.

we do have a second coop but our young pullets are in there so she had to move back in. do you think I should just not let her use the nest box and have her lay outside?

 

[Chauncey05]

We used to break up eggs crumble them and feed it to the hens. It's like a calcium deficiency.

 

[jorj]

We used to break up eggs crumble them and feed it to the hens. It's like a calcium deficiency.

did that stop the eating?

 

[parvani]

Two types of birds need to be removed from my flock immediately, either by selling, giving away, or processing.

Killers and cannibals.

I spend too much time, money, and effort on growing my flock to allow any of my birds to work against me by killing other birds, either by attacking them or by eating eggs.

Your priorities may be different than mine. You may be so attached to Chirpy that you may keep her as a pet and feed her store-bought eggs.

It's really up to you what, if anything, you do about her.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I would eat her but If anyone has any other suggestions I would want to try to stay away from that option. I have tried fake eggs already and she just keeps doing it.

Many hens will eat an opened egg, that's pretty normal and not an egg eater. An egg eater is a chicken that purposely opens an egg to eat it. You have seen her do that. There is no ambiguity, she is an egg eater.

You can read a lot of suggestions as to how to break her. You've tried one, the fake eggs. Some people say fill an egg with something nasty. like mustard. Or you can build roll away nests and try to get all of them to use them. If she cant get to the eggs after they are laid she can't eat them.

I personally like to keep things simple. If you eat her the problem is gone. Those other things might possibly work or maybe they won't. To me there are too many good hens out there to put up with a bad one. I would eat her instead of rehoming her so I don't just pass the problem along. I'd do it before she teaches the others to open eggs to eat and you have to eat all of them. That was my solution when I had an egg eater.

Sometimes a simple solution is a good solution. But as Parvani said, It's really up to you what, if anything, you do about her.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Roll out nest boxes would be the only other suggestion not mentioned above.

do you think I should just not let her use the nest box and have her lay outside?

I don't see how that would be practical, how would you keep her out and let everyone else in?