*ugh* REALLY stubborn egg eatter!

[chicklover16]

I have a one year old buff orpington hen who WILL NOT STOP eating eggs! I blew one out and filled it with mustard/pepper and she ATE IT!!!! how on earth can I stop her from eating the eggs??? the last thing I want is for her to teach the other hens the bad habit and have to cull the entire flock.
thank you!
idy

 

[mamabigbird]

Hi there. Egg eating is a big problem. I thought I had an egg eater and got some pretty good advice from the BYC folks.
It turns out that I have one hen with soft shelled eggs due to calcium absorbtion problem.
She did eat a few that broke and some of the other girls sampled the broken eggs.
Some of the advice that helped was
1) Put dark fabric or curtains over the nest boxes ... they will figure out how to push past the curtains. They are very reluctant to eat anything in the dark.
2) Chickens don't have hot spice sensors in their mouths so hot food doesn't deter them. I put a bit of yellow mustard into my blown out egg but added some liquid dish soap too. Put it into the nest box and found it broken open a while later. When I showed it to the chickens they all ran over to peck it. They all ran away shaking their heads. Now if the one soft egg gets dented or slightly broken it doesn't get eaten.
3) If you know which bird is actually doing it you can isolate her in a dog crate and place fake wooden eggs or golf balls in with her or try the soap egg. She may try to peck at the fake ones and give up.

Good luck and hope others will chime in to help.

 

[chicklover16]

thank you so much! I will try that!

 

[chicklover16]

you know, a couple of moths back I got this lotion stuff that you put on the back of hens that are being pecked and the other chickens hate the taste of it so they leave her alone. do you think I could use the same stuff in the egg to keep the chickens away from them?

 

[mamabigbird]

Geez! I would think that could work and you'd be pretty sure it wouldn't poison them.
My biggest problem was squeezing stuff into the small hole in the egg.
If you have a syringe without needle (like for feeding small kittens ) or an eye dropper it might make it easier.
Let us know how that works.

P.S. I wonder what would happen if you just rubbed it on the outside of eggs. Would that stop them before they break it open?

 

[Highlander]

Have you considered roll out nest boxes? The eggs roll out of the hen's reach once they are laid. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/287684/new-rollout-nest-design-picture-heavy-edited-1-21

 

[chicklover16]

Geez! I would think that could work and you'd be pretty sure it wouldn't poison them.
My biggest problem was squeezing stuff into the small hole in the egg.
If you have a syringe without needle (like for feeding small kittens ) or an eye dropper it might make it easier.
Let us know how that works.

P.S. I wonder what would happen if you just rubbed it on the outside of eggs. Would that stop them before they break it open?

I think I am going to try the lotion stuff, I have an old syringe that the doctor gave to my big brother when he was little. I think that will work

Have you considered roll out nest boxes? The eggs roll out of the hen's reach once they are laid. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/287684/new-rollout-nest-design-picture-heavy-edited-1-21

I thought if that but my dad would have to make them and he is SO busy right now with a new job that I don't think he has time for anything else.