OH NO!! I caught my Millie Fleur hen eating her egg!

[tulie13]

Quote:
I don't think I would use soap - that could cause some SERIOUS digestive issues...

The standard is MUSTARD!!! They don't like the taste at all, and you can also readily identify who did the egg-breaking by who has the yellow face.

Get several "mustard eggs" and keep them in there. They will all eventually hit one of those and be broken of the habit.

 

[lilcrow]

Gads, these are all such fantastic suggestions. The one about the mustard is really creative, and the business with the rocks is perfect.
As I was drifting off to sleep last night and still bemoaning the plight of my egg eater, I was jolted awake by a realization. When I stuck my fingers into the nest box (can't actually get to it to look in, this is for another thread, far from ideal situation I am working to correct) I realized - there was no shell, not even a fragment. The long and short of this is - I think she was just eating membrane.
This morning she got mixed vegetables, grapes, yogurt and regular crumble. I don't know if that had anything to do with why I got an egg from her today or not, but I was very pleased. Of course it's pretty early to be able to predict anything certain, but I feel hopeful. Thanks for everything so far. I don't feel anywhere near as bad as did yesterday.

 

[highcountrychickens]

I did the mustard thing... no dice - I tried horseradish, cayenne, and every variety of mustard I could come up with, filling a blown-out egg with a syringe. None of it worked.

What turned out to work is to supplement their protein. I'm mixing in a bit of soy meal (from the feed store, easy to source) but you could scramble eggs, or give them leftover fish or whatever. Actually nothing else worked but the soy meal worked like a champ... everyone is happy -

btw... I had three or four doing this - the protein nipped it altogether (be careful not to overdo it though )

Good luck

 

[lilcrow]

Is there a certain portion of soy meal to crumble that you mix or do you just sprinkle some on her/their feed each morning. I'm on my way to the grain mill now and I'll get oyster shell and soy meal. I have given them meal worms, but it's impossible to give them those on a regular basis. They're just too expensive! I thought about digging worms, but that's too much like WORK

I don't mind catering to my animals, but my life is already consumed with building the coops and runs; digging worms just doesn't sound like something I want to put a lot of energy into. The meal is a better way to get the protein and I can focus on building.

 

[wegotchickens]

ASk your feed store if they have a higher protein layer crumble. I know it exists because I got some when mine started molting and I wanted to give them some extra protein for building their feathers back.

 

[bigchickenman]

This worked for me,My grandpa told me how to break an egg eater,put her in a different cage and feed her one to two eggs everyday(not the shell),No water unless its extremely hot and then when she isn't eating the eggs anymore then give her water for two more days with the egg and then she will not eat eggs again,she will get tired of eating eggs all the time.This worked on a RIR hen that I got and she hasn't eaten an egg since.Hope this works for you.

 

[PECULIARPETE]

try putting a golf ball or small white river rocks in the nest. when she figures out they aint breakin, she should quit. it worked on a rhode island red i had.

 

[PECULIARPETE]

i tried the mustard thing, i used that chinese mustard you get with takeout. i think they kinda liked it lol. the rocks seemed to work best. i have several mille`s in my collection now. my flock has grown to about 75 assorted chickens, regular and banty`s. some turkeys, quail, and come monday some ducks too. its out of control again. isn`t OCD a wonderful thing.... at least i`m gettin something back this time. plus i enjoy building all the stuff for em.

 

[lilcrow]

So far, so good. I've increased the protein intake and the calcium, and haven't seen any egg remains, but I haven't seen an egg either. However, it could be because one of the hens has become broody. I haven't been able to catch her off the nest to see if there is anything there. I guess I could flush her off, but I really don't want to do that for fear that she could break an egg/eggs in the process of taking off. This coop that they are in is part of the problem I think, or at least it is for me. It makes checking on them very difficult. I'm working on fixing these problems, but I'm having to do this by myself. I'm not as young as I once was, and I don't work as fast as I did when I was 30, or for that matter even 50. I'll eventually be able to see what's going on when she comes off to eat. I'll let you know.