How do you stop a hen from eating her eggs ?

[FarmGirlNC]

Two year old chickens make wonderful soup. But you may be able to get her to stop- free ranging will help her not start again once you have derailed her from the habit. You can put oyster shell in a separate feeder so they can select more than is mixed in the food in case that is what she is craving. All the other suggestions sound worth trying, but I can also confirm that once the other chickens observe the egg eating they may learn to egg eat as well, so if all else fails, I would cull her if she won't stop. Best luck!

 

[kellyh]

Posting on many comments, I have one chicken eating her eggs and I've not tried extra supplements but I will. As for the golf balls, whether or not they help your chickens, a friend also told me that if a snake comes around, he will mistaken it for an egg and swallow it which will in turn kill him.

 

[LindsayB]

put alittle hot sauce on it

 

[JennsPeeps]

Quote:
Chickens can't taste capsaicin, the chemical in hot peppers that makes them "hot". Unfortunately hot suace won't work.

Many people with egg-eaters find it nearly impossible to reform the hen. The hen becomes a pet or a dinner as a result.

 

[LindsayB]

(i was only joking anyways)

 

[ELOISEtheCHICKEN]

Really, chickens can't taste hot peppers...how do you know that?

 

[Gindee77]

I used to collect eggs made of wood, marble, ceramics, etc. I used the marble ones in the nest boxes as nest eggs to show my chickens where to lay their eggs. They pecked those hard marble ones a few times and finally give up. Hopefully they will always think that eggs are hard as marble!!! I don't know if that would work on a hard-core egg pecker tho. Maybe it would if you could gather eggs a few times a day so they don't lay around in the nests too long.

Good luck!

 

[jadude]

collect egs and feed oyster shells they eat eggs for calcium

 

[JennsPeeps]

Quote:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010820071840.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18474376
http://www.ext.vt.edu/news/releases/030404/poultrysanitation.html

 

[Gindee77]

I didn't think birds could taste capsaisin either. I've heard of mixing cayenne pepper with bird seed to keep squirrels out of them. So I just assumed chickens probably couldn't taste it either. Not sure tho.

Will chickens lay eggs in the dark? I thought they just sort of shut down when it was dark. I wonder if that would include being in a dark nest box? Just curious