Rooster eating my eggs???

[tdmason]

I have one large pen with only one hen rhode island red and one rooster. They get along great and I haven't ever seen him try to breed her and he is older and HUGE! I wanted to try to raise some chicks to keep off of him and her. She hadn't laid any eggs in the box from what I had seen so I took an egg from my other chicken that is in a seperate pen and put it in the box. The dang rooster went in there and cracked it open and started eating it, then she went in there and grabbed it and came out and they both ate it. They get scratch and laying mash along with fruits and veggies all the time. What am I doing wrong? I really wanted some chicks off these two but now worried. Should the box be smaller and more off the ground to deter him from going in?

 

[Imp]

Quote:
Egg eating can be a tough problem to stop. People have used blown out eggs filled with liquid soap, mustard, horseradish. Also try putting fake eggs in the nests, or golf balls, ping/pong balls. Make sure the nests are dark. Collect eggs often so they are not a temptation. I had some success with rearranging the coop to shake things up. Also it might be due to a lack of protein in the diet.

Good luck,
Imp