Oh no I have an egg eater!

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Here's an idea...some of your chickens may be molting. When they molt, the calcium needed for feather regrowth can be diverted from shell formation and cause some eggs to be laid that are thin shelled enough to break upon laying or when another hen climbs into the nest to lay. Any chicken presented with an already broken or leaking egg will eat it~this is a fact.

This does not mean you have an "egg eater". Thirty-five years of keeping large flocks of chickens and I've never, ever had an "egg-eater"....I had hundreds of chickens who will opportunistically eat an already broken egg but not one chicken who would peck open a perfectly good egg for food consumption.

Increase your calcium and protein, keep your "egg-eater" and see if she continues after your birds have resumed laying normally in Feb/Mar.

 

[Erica]

Take her out immediately. Chances are she's already taught the other birds the same trick, but you may be lucky and have caught it early.

I've had countless troubles with egg eaters. It's sometimes dietary but far more often caused by predators like rats or crows breaking eggs and leaving a mess. Or it can be caused by thin shells, which break too easily and encourage the behavior. Thickening the shells (after removing known culprits) is number one priority, and excluding predators is also up there.

Mustard eggs don't work for very long at all. I promise. I tried everything: mustard, chilli (not a chance), even paint (which helped me realised it was ALL the birds, not just one). They might work for a short time but they simply don't work for long. Wood or ceramic eggs have also never helped me.

One day in a fury after months of attempts to retrain the birds, I took all the culprits and put them in an isolated pen for culling. I put no nesting material, just a plain floor, no nest, nothing. I was going to cull them that day. Lo and behold, they laid eggs and didn't eat them. I was amazed. Every day I'd collect the eggs and find just a chip in the end, but no eaten contents. Then the chips disappeared. Over two weeks the hens learned to ignore the eggs completely. What was happening was that without a nestbox or litter to trap the eggs, the eggs were rolling away from even the most determined beak. The best part of retraining by putting birds in confinement with no nest or nesting material (or other obstacles) is that it stops the birds from associating the 'just laid' cries of a hen with something yummy.

Those are my experiences anyhow, hope they help. It's been one of the most frustrating things I've had to deal with... And it's a bad idea to ever put new pullets with ones that have eaten eggs in the past, even if they've been retrained... At some time sporadically the behavior might return, and then those new pullets will pick it up in an instant.

Best of luck,
Erica

 

[redhd077]

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I think I will try the cabbage. The beads on the ribbon how big of beads? aren't they afraid the chickend will get them off and eat them? I would unless i guess they are big beads.
I don't think any of my chickens are molting...they did that in the summer, but i will keep that in mind.

 

[BlazeJester]

I haven't seen the toy yet. I have beads in various sizes from craft stores, but I imagine these are the standard squarish 1/2" beads little girls use for bracelets. Not sure I would give that either...