Retraining an egg-eater?

[Gibs]

Hey folks,

The things I've heard about hens eating eggs are pretty discouraging - basically, that once they've started they won't ever stop, and they'll teach others to do it as well. That's what I've read, anyway... but this is a new problem for me, so I'm wondering if anyone with experience has had any luck with different approaches?

The bird I've caught in the act is a beloved pet, a five-year-old Brahma hen. She lays very rarely, if ever, and she's just recently started pecking into and eating the other girls' eggs. I can get rid of her if I have to, but it would be awfully sad. Alternatives? Anyone?

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Roll out next box would do the trick....

Good luck

Gary

 

[chickens really]

Hey folks,

The things I've heard about hens eating eggs are pretty discouraging - basically, that once they've started they won't ever stop, and they'll teach others to do it as well. That's what I've read, anyway... but this is a new problem for me, so I'm wondering if anyone with experience has had any luck with different approaches?

The bird I've caught in the act is a beloved pet, a five-year-old Brahma hen. She lays very rarely, if ever, and she's just recently started pecking into and eating the other girls' eggs. I can get rid of her if I have to, but it would be awfully sad. Alternatives? Anyone?

Collect your eggs quicker, put up curtains on the nest boxes or separate her some how in the coop/run....
I read once that someone blew out and egg and filled it with mustard...Not actually sure if that even worked?...

Also your next option is to get rid of her?

 

[aart]

Yeah, mustard most often only makes a big mess.
Curtains might work.
Roll out nests are definitely an answer.
Increasing protein, especially animal protein, in the diet can help too.

I currently have a 'nest messer', she tears up all the nests every day digging thru the bedding, going in and out of them all almost constantly. Part of this behavior, I believe, is that she's looking for the thin shelled eggs another hen often lays, that often break and she's gotten a taste for them. She doesn't break/eat the 'normal' eggs.

One morning as she came back in after scratch snack while I was cleaning and started in on the nests, I decided to isolate her for most the day to try to break this habit.
I let her out at about 5pm and close off the nests until after dark when I lock up and everyone is roosting. It's just the third day and she's still out of the crate, but already I see a decrease in her disruptive activity. Only time will tell if it works long term.
This is my isolation crate set up,
used here for a broody breaker,
it's not presently set on the blocks for the 'nest messer':

 

[lazy gardener]

Wow, Aart! Nice catch, and thinking out of the box behavior modification plan. Hope it works for you.

IMO, egg eating is associated with: Deficient diet or metabolism (including protein, and vitamins/minerals that calcium is dependent on for proper uptake) for one or more members of the flock. Deficient calcium in diet or deficient calcium metabolism in one or more members of the flock. New layers, or birds at end or beginning of new egg cycle who have a glitch in their shell glands. Old birds who are at end of their laying life, or have reproductive issues, thus lay defective eggs. Crowding/boredom.

I have seen egg eating issues in my flock that appear to be an end of winter issue. If shells are weak, an egg may easily get fractured in the nest. Any cracked egg is an invite for a free for all clean up session. This does not an egg eater make. But if the issue is not addressed, it can result in an ongoing habit for one or more birds.

To treat: increase protein, calcium, add vitamins. Be sure feed is fresh. supply plenty of greens. Give plenty of diversion activities including free range if that is an option. Be sure the flock has a minimum of 4 s.f. in coop and 10 s.f. in run per bird. If run is bare soil, convert it to deep composting litter. Lots of nutrition can be had from a composted run. If that is not an option, build them some forage frames, give them sprouts, or extra greens. cull birds that have on going egg quality issues from flock.

 

[azygous]

This style of roll-out nest to discourage egg eaters is amazingly easy to adapt to any existing nest.

 

[aart]

Wow, Aart! Nice catch, and thinking out of the box behavior modification plan. Hope it works for you.

Exactly! Just trying to break her obsession.
We modify their behaviors in other ways, roost heights, covering nests, locking in coop to lay in nests.....all can take just a few days/repetitions to have an affect, so I figured why not try this?<shrugs> She used to be the mellowest girl, came in nice and quiet every morning to lay, could touch her in the nest with nary a flinch, lays a gorgeous blue egg....until I separated her, in rotation a few at a time for a couple days each with all the flock, for assessment before putting chicks in coop this spring. Ever since that she's been neurotic.

Too soon maybe to tell, but it appears to have worked, or at least helped. Today I left her out of crate and she's not digging in nests, well some but near as much. Watching closely yet, if I catch her at it, or all nests are messed up, back in the crate she goes.

Apologies to @Gibs for highjacking your thread with this story and subsequent discussion.
Will move it all if it irks you, just let me know.

 

[Gibs]

Not at all! Very informative, thank you for the "hijack." My hens mostly don't disturb the bedding unless there's something interesting in it (like pieces of a broken egg, insects, etc if it's gone unchanged for too long), but nest-messing and egg-eating definitely seem related. All part of the general egg/nest obsession that we're all trying to avoid.

My girls do free-range for most of the day, and only come back to the coop when they need to lay or bed down for the night, so I think I can probably rule out crowding / boredom. They forage pretty widely, but green food is getting scarce here in the dry California summer... maybe I'll start leaving food around in the morning too, rather than just feeding in the evening when they come home. I can certainly curtain the nest boxes, and with a bit of extra effort, I'm sure I could manage roll-out boxes if this doesn't stop.

On the topic of compost - I usually toss out fruits, vegetables, and other stuff to the hens and they devour it all promptly. There's other (less delicious) stuff available too, like hay scraps and horse manure, but I usually pile this out by the barn rather than in/near the coop. Does anyone know if they'll benefit from that sort of thing, too? And if so, any restrictions (like, broken-down manure instead of fresh; ratio of manure to hay; other materials, etc)?

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody! <3

 

[aart]

Great, thanks!

maybe I'll start leaving food around in the morning too, rather than just feeding in the evening when they come home

They should have a balanced chicken ration available all day long,
keep any extras to a 10% volume of daily fed consumption.
If they are lacking protein and/or calcium, that could be why they are eating eggs?

 

[Zoomie]

I think @aart has the best ideas. I have gotten them to quit egg eating by putting in ceramic eggs and leaving them in there. (I take a Sharpie and make an X on each side, so I don't accidentally collect the ceramic eggs.) I guess they peck at the hard egg and can not break it. If you can catch them quick enough, that teaches them the futility of pecking at eggs so they stop, or at least over the years I've gotten several groups of chickens to stop this annoying behaviour this way. I do tend to leave the ceramic eggs in there. I generally put in about 4 of them (depends on how many chickens of course) and this has worked for me.