One of my hens is an egg eater

[DehliaBlu]

I can't figure out which hen is eating eggs but I may have an idea. What do I do now? Do I have to separate her or is there some kind of behaviour modification I can apply to the whole flock...like a wooden or stone egg covered in bitters? I don't want to have to cut everyone's beaks or anything drastic.

 

[debilorrah]

I am bumping this to the top - I have never had an egg eater.

 

[dadof4]

Seperate the one you think it is and see if it stops. The only cure I know for a habitual egg-eater is freezer camp.

 

[Taz]

I too am having this problem. I only have two pullets that are old enought to lay and have been laying about a month. One, the bard rock, is eating her egg. Just started this week. When you have only two layers, freezer camp is not a very good solution.

Since i am home all day, I am trying to narrow down her time of laying and get the egg. Know that it is her as the other one lays green eggs.
I wonder if its something lacking in nutrition that started this? Soon my garden will be producing and I will up their veggies. But open to suggestions. Maybe more protein? Raised chickens all my life and never had this problem but their range was larger and more abundant with food than my back yard in Florida.

 

[Omran]

Well that is a big problem, and I am sorry it happens to you guys, however, I did read one time here on BYC that you get an egg and make a tiny hole in it then empty it and refill it back with mastared and put it back for the bad hen, and when she brake it to eat it she will learn her lesson.
I am not an expert by any mean, but that what I remembered.

Good luck.

Omran

 

[griffin45]

We have plenty of hens but we don't want to send any to the freezer just yet. I have done a little research and found that it could be a protein problem. The answer was to feed her some eggs. Scrambled then cooled. Then start adding more protein to the food. We are going to go back to adding beet pulp and ground wheat to their feed.

Chris

 

[Imp]

to the new members

I had this same problem last December with new laying pullets. I was able to break them from egg eating by rearranging the coop to shake things up. Adding 5 gallon buckets as nests. Putting golf balls and stone eggs in the nests. And collecting as often as I could. It was fortunate that I was on vacation at the time. Others have suggested as Omran did filling blown out eggs with mustard or horseradish. And adding more protein as Taz said. Also I have heard of people adding curtains in front of the nests so the eggs weren't so visible and it is darker in the nests. Good Luck.

Imp/Russ

 

[SandraChick]

Ditto on the Imp's post.

Golf balls are particularly good for this because they reverberate their little heads when they peck at them....Instant negative feedback. Rocks will work...but not as good, it doesn't have the reverberation of the chicken's head.

Oh...besides it often coming on because of a lack of protein...it can also be because of a lack of calcium. Make sure you have oyster shells out free choice--even if you're feeding them layer.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[Imp]

Thanks SandraChick,
I hadn't quite connected with the calcium. Makes perfect sense.
I think my issue was more just pullets being bad. They stopped immediately when I added the nest buckets. I still check every day.

Imp/Russ

 

[Taz]

Well, I took out the very open nest box and put a closed one in and now they are both laying in the nest and the egg is not getting eaten. In addition to the one eating her egg, the aracauna was going under the hen house to lay. Thus I was laying on my belly in chicken pucky raking out my daily green egg.

Finally got the bottom of the hen house blocked in. Am going to have someone build me some regular nest boxes. I am sure 3 will be enuff for 8 hens. Prolly all lay in the same nest!

Taz