HOW DO I STOP MY CHICKEN FROM EATING HER EGGS?

[SnugglesTheChicken]

My chicken is around 5 years old and still laying most days, sometimes she leaves them to be collected, by the rest of the time she eats her own eggs. She gets enough food and protein but I am unsure on how to stop her from doing this. Any tips? Thanks!

 

[DobieLover]

You can build a roll away nest box or try baiting her with eggs filled with hot mustard.
How long has she been doing this? The longer she has been practicing this behavior and been rewarded for it, the harder it will be to break her. Leaving the only alternative to the problem being immediately removing the eggs with a roll away nest box.

 

[Yardmom]

What feed is she eating including the protein content and does she have a calcium source in addition to her feed?

 

[Lardson]

What feed is she eating including the protein content and does she have a calcium source in addition to her feed?

Good questions. Chickens eat eggs but they dont eat them from the nestbox, there must be something wrong. Might be due to the eggs shell being weak. Defeciensies = easily breakable shell

 

[SnugglesTheChicken]

You can build a roll away nest box or try baiting her with eggs filled with hot mustard.
How long has she been doing this? The longer she has been practicing this behavior and been rewarded for it, the harder it will be to break her. Leaving the only alternative to the problem being immediately removing the eggs with a roll away nest box.

Thanks! shes been up to this a few days each week for a few months, shes an old gal so some days she doesnt lay at all but its been going on for a while so will definatly try this nest box idea. She gets no treats (still get normal food of course) on days where she eats her eggs.

 

[SnugglesTheChicken]

What feed is she eating including the protein content and does she have a calcium source in addition to her feed?

Westons Peck Layer Pellets is what she is currently on, as well as meal worms for protein treats, and very rarely some uncooked mince when she needs protein quickly. She is not low on protein but we are trying to get her calcium up with the oyster grit, shes not finding it too appetizing though.

 

[SnugglesTheChicken]

Good questions. Chickens eat eggs but they dont eat them from the nestbox, there must be something wrong. Might be due to the eggs shell being weak. Defeciensies = easily breakable shell

Thanks! It is hard for her to break the eggs because she takes about 2 minutes of peaking at it, from inside our house we hear a banging and rush out to grab her egg before she breaks it. Dont know if that means still defecincy but we will try to up her calcium.

 

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

Hello there!

I’m sorry to hear you are dealing with this. I’ve dealt with the same problems, and it’s stressful! But, there are solutions.

First, we must get down to the reason. Sometimes hens just like the taste of eggs, and other times there is a underlying cause.

What is her diet like? What kind of feed is she on? Does she get extra calcium? How many treats does she get? Has there been any changes to her environment lately? Is she healthy?

Are you sure she is eating them? This may be a unnecessary question, but I have seen lots of chicken owners saying their hens eat their eggs, and it actually turns out a predator is, or the hen is finding somewhere else to lay. Is there any way a rat or snake or something of the like could be eating them? Is she laying somewhere else? Like I said, may be unnecessary, but wanted to check just in case!

Once we make sure there isn’t a underlying problem, we can move on to some solutions to fixing this problem.

One thing you could try is making a small hole on either side of a fresh egg, blowing out the inside contents, and instead fill it with mustard or dish soap. Do this multiple times, and put them in the nest boxes.

At the same time you do that, put some fake eggs also in the nest boxes. You can find them online or at a farm supply store. Golf balls work too.

This way, the hen will realize that every time she tries to eat an egg, there will either be a taste she doesn’t like, or no reward at all. It’s important to note that during this time, you need to collect the real eggs as often as possible!

Another thing you could try is roll-away nestboxes, as I have seen others have mentioned. Some hens don’t like them and won’t lay in them tho, so they don’t always work.

Also, is there any possible way you could seperate her from the flock, until you get this cleared up? Sometimes one chicken will teach the rest of the chickens to eat the eggs, and then you have a big problem on your hands!

First try those tips, and if those don’t work we can move onto some others! I wish you the best. I know this Can be a discouraging problem, but with some patience hopefully we can fix this!

 

[SnugglesTheChicken]

What feed is she eating including the protein content and does she have a calcium source in addition to her feed?

https://thechookyard.co.nz/product/westons-peak-layer-pellets-25kg/?v=8e3eb2c69a18
This is her feed
Along with meal worms and mince, and cooked eggs. These other foods are not over feed and just for that extra protein.

 

[SnugglesTheChicken]

Hello there!

I’m sorry to hear you are dealing with this. I’ve dealt with the same problems, and it’s stressful! But, there are solutions.

First, we must get down to the reason. Sometimes hens just like the taste of eggs, and other times there is a underlying cause.

What is her diet like? What kind of feed is she on? Does she get extra calcium? How many treats does she get? Has there been any changes to her environment lately? Is she healthy?

Are you sure she is eating them? This may be a unnecessary question, but I have seen lots of chicken owners saying their hens eat their eggs, and it actually turns out a predator is, or the hen is finding somewhere else to lay. Is there any way a rat or snake or something of the like could be eating them? Is she laying somewhere else? Like I said, may be unnecessary, but wanted to check just in case!

Once we make sure there isn’t a underlying problem, we can move on to some solutions to fixing this problem.

One thing you could try is making a small hole on either side of a fresh egg, blowing out the inside contents, and instead fill it with mustard or dish soap. Do this multiple times, and put them in the nest boxes.

At the same time you do that, put some fake eggs also in the nest boxes. You can find them online or at a farm supply store. Golf balls work too.

This way, the hen will realize that every time she tries to eat an egg, there will either be a taste she doesn’t like, or no reward at all. It’s important to note that during this time, you need to collect the real eggs as often as possible!

Another thing you could try is roll-away beatboxes, as I have seen others have mentioned. Some hens don’t like them and won’t lay in them tho, so they don’t always work.

Also, is there any possible way you could seperate her from the flock, until you get this cleared up? Sometimes one chicken will teach the rest of the chickens to eat the eggs, and then you have a big problem on your hands!

First try those tips, and if those don’t work we can move onto some others! I wish you the best. I know this Can be a discouraging problem, but with some patience hopefully we can fix this!

Thanks so much! Very helpful.
This is her feed: https://thechookyard.co.nz/product/westons-peak-layer-pellets-25kg/?v=8e3eb2c69a18
She also gets treat like meal worms (about 10) everyday. Also getting other treats like mince or part of a cooked egg when she needs more protein or we are out of meal worms, however she gets these less commonly. She is heathly, and is definatly eating them beacsue we try to get them from her each morning and catch her trying to eat it some mornings.

Will definatley try your tricks! She is currently a single chicken, no flock, this may seem odd but her other 2 friends were killed by a ferret about a year ago and we have not been in a place to get more. She is ok though and doing well without a flock. The tips will be great and I'll start trying them tomorow!!