I have an egg eater ;o(

[Mandalina]

And I am beyond annoyed.

It is one of my non-laying younger girls doing it.There are 4 in particular that like to nap in the nesting boxes and I dont know who is doing it yet but I will be finding out asap.

This was the third day in a row I had an egg or more cracked and eated.

First day I thought it was a fluke accidental break since it was only one and it hadnt been eaten.
Second day the entire yolk was gone and the egg was everywhere and another egg in the box pecked open.
Today half of a shell with no yolk or whites and another egg cracked open but uneaten.

So,When I figure out who exactly is doing it should I seperate her? I plan on collecting eggs hourly if needbe until this is resolved so she wont be allowed to do it again.I wish I could keep them out of the boxes but they are getting so close to laying age that I cant scare them away from the boxed unless I feel like collecting eggs from hiding places....

UGH!

 

[Mandalina]

and could this be stress related? One of the girls in question is kind of in a funk.Her sister had to be seperated out due to an injury and she has had a hard time with it. Today she was culled bc there was no point in her suffering further and my birds have been acting off since she was taken out and away from them.
maybe it is this one girl Minnie just acting out over Daisy being gone?

 

[Lollipop]

Never heard it blamed on stress before, Mandy. Usually it starts from a broken egg and gets to be a nasty habit immediately. I`ve heard folks say they have used golf balls, or have blown out an egg and filled it with mustard. I personally have never been able to break an egg eater without an ax. I have considered a roll out nest arrangement and there is at least one good design here at BYC. Just do a search. Looks easy to build, but I haven`t tried it because of lack of egg eaters at the moment. Good luck..........Pop

 

[lurky]

Did you notice if the shell remaining was soft? I have found mine only eat them if its a soft shelled egg to start.
I find it stops as soon as the shells harden back up. I dont know if i am just lucky for that, or if thats often the case

 

[incubatingisfun]

mine HaVe been doing it for 3 months or so i just got 5 in the last few daYs cause i put golf balls in the nest box

 

[apdan]

Mine decided they were going to start eating my eggs to! I went in there yesterday and found my rooster laying in a nesting box with two eggs in front of him..... so I am thinking about seperating him for awhile to see if he is the culprit!

 

[Glamorgan]

Mine eat the soft shelled eggs that are laid on the ground. I find bits and pieces of egg later.

 

[Imp]

I broke mine by rearranging the coop and adding 5 gal bucket nests. As Lollipop said some have had success using fake eggs/golf balls, filling eggs with mustard, horseradish, or liquid soap. Keeping the nests dark has also helped some.

Good luck,
Imp

 

[ChooksChick]

I have 2 or 3 golf balls in each nest as a rule, and this keeps young non-layers from sleeping in there as well as making it a high percentage that if anyone pecks to break an egg they'll have a sore beak. It has worked very well for me!

If you don't know anyone who golfs, you can usually get a ton of used golf balls from a local course if you ask- they have a billion that show up. My husband is a greenskeeper and I find them everywhere because he brings them home in his pockets from picking them up off the course. I found one in my underwear drawer recently...don't even want to ask him how it got there.

We haven't had issues with egg-eating since starting this, so it seems to be a great way to go.

 

[Jeeper1540]

i think mine are starting to eat eggs, but are making it look like an accident by only doing one egg, and not every day.