My Chickens are Eating my Turkey Eggs!!!

[akmom28]

We had assumed since it is winter in AK that the turkeys weren't laying. But, we have found 3 eggs in the past 10 days. Then, today my husband caught my chickens eating a turkey egg. Isn't this strange behavior? Should I treat it like I do when they eat their own eggs?

Also, in the process of hatching more chickens and I don't want them to "learn" to eat eggs. Any ideas of how to find the culprits so I can get rid of them?

 

[Kelsie2290]

I'd treat it like a regular chicken egg eating problem, a found egg is a found egg if you have a mixed flock, they don't care if it is duck, turkey, chicken, guinea egg. The Learning Center has a good article on breaking/finding egg eaters. If I have one, I put a lot more fake eggs out, then go through the narrow down who is doing it list, check for egg on faces, watch them as much as I can, see if anybody has an interest in floor eggs, camera if it is a certain box etc. The BYC article has a suggestion of using food coloring in decoy egg, never tried it but sounds like an interesting idea.