How to stop Egg eating Chicken???

[TomSeller]

hire a chicken analyst and get to the root of the problem. the poor bird probably had a traumatic experience while escaping the egg the first time and has been suffering with demons ever since. Have some compassion

I agree, enough people question the chicken's motives for crossing the road, now this. The chicken analyst can also look for genocidal tendencies caused from roosting under pallets while young

 

[MH8675309]

You might try de -beaking. You grind off about an eight of an inch or so off the tip of the beak so that the beak is blunted (flat) instead of pointed. Go easy - too much and they'll bleed. This is done to prevent them from pecking each other up also. There is a de beaking tool you can buy - for a few dollars more. It sounds mean but is done for the reasons mentioned.

 

[bumperm]

17 HMR.

You beat me to that one :c)

Or an exploding egg w/vibration fuse - - check with Bill Ayers for instructions

 

[kidr]

Curious, when the egg eats the chicken where does the next egg come from?

It went right over their heads EGGon.

 

[Jstpssng]

It went right over their heads EGGon.

I saw it but couldn't think of a response which wouldn't leave me with egg on my face.

 

[bja105]

The poster that said more nest boxes and more frequent gathering has it right. Two, three, or four hens all try to be in the nest at once, and an egg gets broken. Most any chicken will eat a broken egg. Some few birds will learn to break eggs on purpose, which is hard to cure.

Golf balls in the nest helps. If they peck a golf ball, it hurts. Chickens can't tell the difference between a golf ball and an egg. The golf ball also encourages newly laying pullets to lay in the box, instead of the coop or yard.

 

[schmism]

Heck other than catching the old girl yellow beaked, how do I even catch the perp?

You dont, you solve the problem of why they are eating the eggs.

Generally they are craving calcium which the shell is made up of. They could also be low on protein if your not feeding a standard 16% protein layer feed.

You should always have oyster shell free feed as well as grit. I use rabbit feeders with the screened bottoms as the oyster shell has a tendancy to build up left over "dust" without it.

You should have free access layer feed, hanging feeder works best.

If your not feeding either of the above I suggest moving to a all flock 18% feed (free feed) for at least a bag then back to your choice 16% layer.

Source: I've run a flock of ~50 free range chickens for egg sales for the past 3 years. (smaller number for longer than that)

 

[OldMcDonald]

Mossflowerwoods, You have had a couple of replies about proper feeding for good shell quality, and debeaking. I have copied below two paragraphs from some previous writing of mine that elaborates on these posts:-

I have heard of people feeding their stock some weird and wonderful things, yoghurt being one that regularly comes around. Why this should ever have come into being is a mystery to me because one thing I am certain that hens will not take in nature is milk, and I cannot accept that the bacteria in a live culture that might benefit a mammal, can do any good to a species not adapted to use such organisms. Grit, either soluble or insoluble comes into the same category. Extra calcium can give you more problems than it is intended to solve. Upsetting the calciumhosphorus ratio as formulated by the makers of your layers feed will affect the composition of the egg shell. Depending on the excess amount taken by the hen, this results in shells of poor quality, often thin or soft (the very reason that oyster shell or limestone is fed in the first instance by those who use it) and in extreme cases can lead to morbidity and death. The label, or other information printed on the feed bag, should tell you whether you need to feed grit. If it does not tell you, then ask the manufacturer (not the person who supplies it to you) before giving your birds any extra calcium. A properly formulated layers ration should supply sufficient calcium to meet all the requirements of a hen in full production. Free ranging poultry should be able to pick up sufficient insoluble grinding material for their gizzards, so again I see no point in buying the stuff. Permanently housed hens that are fed whole grain are an exception and will need insoluble grit for the grinding stones in the gizzard.
..........
From time to time you might meet with an egg-eating problem. If the hens are properly and adequately fed this should be an extremely rare occurrence. If an egg is accidentally broken then it will be greedily devoured in its entirety, but if you produce eggs with good shell quality as a result of your good management of your flock, then it takes a very determined hen to break the shell. If you find a number of eggs have been eaten and you are certain it is the hens purposely breaking the shells, and not some other cause, then clipping the top mandible of their beaks removes their tool for breaking the eggs. As with your own finger and toenails you will be able to see how much can be cut without causing injury to the bird. It is common for many hatcheries to do this job soon after the chicks are hatched, except they tend to go a bit further and the mandible never grows back properly.

.............

NOTE: Mfw, It is probably easiest for you to tip the beaks of all the hens rather than spend further time trying to identify the culprit(s). Human nail clippers do the job adequately.

Colon p should replace the funny face.

 

[Jstpssng]

Mossflowerwoods, You have had a couple of replies about proper feeding for good shell quality, and debeaking. I have copied below two paragraphs from some previous writing of mine that elaborates on these posts:-

I have heard of people feeding their stock some weird and wonderful things, yoghurt being one that regularly comes around. Why this should ever have come into being is a mystery to me because one thing I am certain that hens will not take in nature is milk, and I cannot accept that the bacteria in a live culture that might benefit a mammal, can do any good to a species not adapted to use such organisms. Grit, either soluble or insoluble comes into the same category. Extra calcium can give you more problems than it is intended to solve. Upsetting the calciumhosphorus ratio as formulated by the makers of your layers feed will affect the composition of the egg shell. Depending on the excess amount taken by the hen, this results in shells of poor quality, often thin or soft (the very reason that oyster shell or limestone is fed in the first instance by those who use it) and in extreme cases can lead to morbidity and death. The label, or other information printed on the feed bag, should tell you whether you need to feed grit. If it does not tell you, then ask the manufacturer (not the person who supplies it to you) before giving your birds any extra calcium. A properly formulated layers ration should supply sufficient calcium to meet all the requirements of a hen in full production. Free ranging poultry should be able to pick up sufficient insoluble grinding material for their gizzards, so again I see no point in buying the stuff. Permanently housed hens that are fed whole grain are an exception and will need insoluble grit for the grinding stones in the gizzard.
..........
From time to time you might meet with an egg-eating problem. If the hens are properly and adequately fed this should be an extremely rare occurrence. If an egg is accidentally broken then it will be greedily devoured in its entirety, but if you produce eggs with good shell quality as a result of your good management of your flock, then it takes a very determined hen to break the shell. If you find a number of eggs have been eaten and you are certain it is the hens purposely breaking the shells, and not some other cause, then clipping the top mandible of their beaks removes their tool for breaking the eggs. As with your own finger and toenails you will be able to see how much can be cut without causing injury to the bird. It is common for many hatcheries to do this job soon after the chicks are hatched, except they tend to go a bit further and the mandible never grows back properly.

.............

NOTE: Mfw, It is probably easiest for you to tip the beaks of all the hens rather than spend further time trying to identify the culprit(s). Human nail clippers do the job adequately.

Colon p should replace the funny face.

Good info, although results may differ. I just started raising them a few years ago as a hobby, so don't have your experience and appreciate your input.

PS; anybody who takes exception to a minor syntax error probably won't comprehensively read what you said anyways...

 

[RobertBrown]

Chicken Tacos





Keep making chicken tacos (delicious and nutritious) until the eggs stop getting eaten....then get more chickens, or just buy eggs.





Hope this helps