***How to deal with chickens eating their eggs***

[Louieandthecrew]

Hello,
Many people, inculing me, have had the problem where their chickens will eat there own eggs saving none for these hungry chicken owners. How do we stop this? What is the salution?
Advice is greatly appriciated,
Louieandthecrew

 

[pixie74943]

I'm just posting to say that I did have the same problem. My new pullets arent comfortable in the coop, and I THINK she just lay her first egg in the middle of nowhere, and ate it *headdesk*

Solutions I've heard are putting something in the nest box that is egg shaped and inedible to tell them not to eat things in nests.
Or build a roll-away nest box so they cant get to the eggs after laying them *google it, theres heaps of plans around*

My problem is that she didnt lay it in the nest, so none of these things will work.

However, in my case the shell was very soft (being an early egg) so currently fingers crossed that the shells will get tougher, wont break as easily, and therefore wont expose yummy yolky goodness

 

[arherp]

Once they get the taste, you are screwed. One drop of prevention is worth a pound of cure... Feed them eggshells at 4.5 months, put dummy eggs in their nest boxes at 4.5 months, etc.

 

[Lorije1]

blow out the egg and fill it with mustard

 

[AndreaS]

I haven't had this problem yet, but have heard that if you keep their nest boxes dark so they can't see as well to peck the egg, it is less likely to become an issue. I do think once they start its hard to get them to stop

 

[Cavendish Chickens]

I like the mustard idea. If they associate a taste they don't like with the eggs, they may decide not to eat them anymore. I also like the idea of keeping golf balls, or something of the sort to resemble eggs, in the nest box before laying begins so they can peck at them. With no avail, they may just decide the eggs are the same and will leave them alone. Two great ideas in my eyes. (So long as mustard isn't poisonous to them, or make them sick.)

 

[Louieandthecrew]

Well, my hen doesn't peck directly at teh egg and I don't even know if she knows that it came from her egg in the nesting box. Two days ago I went into the coop through the run to get the eggs. I came out with three eggs, one was broken. When I was almost out of the run some of the inside of the cracked egg came out. I bent down trying to keep them away from it and my oldest rooster pecked directly at the egg and got a little more out. I through the egg out outside of the coop. Then, yesterday I went to the coop and again checked for eggs by going through the run and into the coop (They arre connected). I got one egg out that my oldest hen had layed. (This hen, my oldest hen, Red Sex Link, only comes over to me when I have food and if I even TRY to pick her up she FREAKS out.) When I got out of the coop holding the fresh egg the hen that layed it (Red Sex Link) and my oldest roo came running around my feet. I sat down on the stair so that they would stop pecking my feet and my Red Sex Link hen jumped into my LAP! THey ended up not getting that egg (but neither did I. My dog ate it!) so that's good but I guess that all they know is that one day I went into the coop then came out with a yummy treat. Hmmmmm...

 

[smk2010]

Whats the easiest way to blow out an egg and fill it with the mustard? If the pullets are eating the eggs then I want to stop them QUICK. I'm also going to try some golf balls too. I'm tired of only getting 2-4 eggs a day when it should be closer to 10. My buyers are getting frustrated too

 

[Judy]

Quote:
This has not been my experience, though I have read the claim before.

Mine seem to break an egg out of simple clumsiness maybe once a month or so. Sometimes it is eaten or partly eaten, sometimes not. Most days I do not find any sign of a broken egg, and I get 8 or 10 eggs or so a day, which seems to me to be about right.

 

[dnichols]

What do you do if they just peck a hole in the shell and only eat the yolk? I've lost all my eggs over the last week. Here's a picture of one of the eggs.