Naughty Wyandotte hen

[Jasper_899]

Last night I went out to collect eggs and after I collected the two from my Buff orps I turned around and noticed one of my GL wyandottes had jumped in the next box that had 3 eggs in it. I thought maybe she wanted to sit on them since I noticed my wyandottes tend to sit on the eggs longer then my RIR and Sex-Link hens. Anyway when I turned around to fill feeders I heard a crack and I saw the wyandotte holding an egg shell in her beak and I couldn't believe what I had just seen. I don't think we have ever had a egg eating hen before. I quickly shooed her out of the next box and grabbed the other two eggs and cleaned up the broken one and threw it away.

Why would she have done this? And how can I stop her form doing it again? I can only get eggs once a day because I go to school early and have to work after school. I really would like to keep her she is a beauty even if she is a hatchery girl but since we keep chickens for eggs it kinda defeats the purpose of having an egg eating hen and I have noticed a decline in eggs in the past month.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

 

[fordmommy]

A quick fix would be to put "peepers" on her. If you had more time, you could try to get her out of the habit. Do you think this is the first time? Or maybe there has been other eggs missing?

 

[Uzuri]

Another option is roll-out boxes, where the eggs don't stay within reach of the hens -- BUT you have to train the hens to use them of course. You don't gain much if they start laying somewhere other than the boxes!

 

[chookchick]

Make sure they are all getting enough protein, and provide oyster shell, even if they are on a calcium-fortified layer diet. Get someone to collect eggs for you during the day, perhaps a neighbor kid? Put in a few golf balls, or rocks to confuse her. I had problems with egg-eating when they were young, and shells not always the best, but now, no problems. Keeping them busy with toys, scratch, greens, etc... also keeps them out of trouble.