egg-stealing egg eating thieving chickens

[lalaland]

the.chickens.are.eating.their.eggs

I've tried golf balls, salted the nest with an antique glass egg made for that purpose, filled eggs with yellow mustard, upped the food, upped the protein content, offered tons of boss, and no dice.

I collect the eggs as frequently as I can on weekends, but during the week it is usually 6 or 6:30 before I can get home, get out of the truck and race into the coop to grab the last egg from the egg thieving dirty lowdown sneaks.

heard my only way out is to cull the whole danged flock. don't want to do that.

I don't have the $ to invest in those fancy nests where the eggs roll away.

Any ideas? Anyone been successful in eradicating this scourge?

 

[Rebecka]

I had two hens that were egg eaters. Not just their own, anyones eggs. We ate them. I know its not the best advice since you really aren't there to watch. What I did was stalk the coop. I swear they knew I was watching for them, since they wouldn't do it if I was in there. We couldn't do any of the edible aversions. Our chickens love prepared mustard, hot peppers, vinegar , black pepper. Can you believe I actually had a neighbor suggest I fill an egg with drain cleaner ???

ETA: Frequent trips to the coop and noting who was turned wrong in the nest boxes and had wet beaks. We have one hen that lays eggs without shells. I find them every other day. Nobody messes with them now that we have ferreted out the egg eaters.

 

[ksalvagno]

I'm just doing frequent egg collecting. But I am home and can do that on a daily basis.

 

[TanksHill]

Wouldn't shell eating be a sign they need more calcium? Do you supplement with oyster shell?

Other than that I don't have much experience with egg eaters.

sorry.

 

[journey11]

I had blamed my hens for egg-eating for a long time, then when I went to reinforce the barrier under the coop/run, I found a pile of egg shells in a hidden corner (where the chickens were not able to go). I think it must have been an opossum or large rat maybe. Snakes will swipe eggs too. I do occasionally find a weak shelled egg will break in the nest, but I don't think it was done on purpose, because they just leave it there to make a mess.

I tried going down very frequently during the day and trying to see who had "egg on their face", but never caught the culprit red-handed. I had heard on BYC that you can take an egg and roll it across the yard and see who goes for it, that should reveal an egg-eater. If you know whose guilty, you may be able to cull just the culprit and save the flock.

I am going to build my own roll out nest out of plywood and scraps I have around here. I don't think it would be too hard. I guess I'll have to buy those plastic "grass" mats to line it. They seem cheap enough.

I guess if it comes down to it, you can just try to harvest as many eggs as you can and hold on to them until you can replace your flock next spring (the sooner you can start new chicks, the better). Some people say you just have to get rid of them all because they'll teach it to the others. I don't know about that though. I would try to identify the culprit first.

Good luck!

 

[Wifezilla]

I thought my duck was eating eggs and was all upset too. It was a freaking squirrel!!!!

I HATE SQUIRRELS!

 

[SKR8PN]

I was losing eggs last fall and at the start of winter..............blamed the hens......until I found the tunnels under the straw and into the tractor.
I moved the tractor and the tunnels followed...........thinking it was chipmunks stealing the hens food, I moved the tractor again......again the tunnels followed......
I set up my game camera to find out who/what was doing the stealing........ it was rats!
I set out traps baited with peanut butter, and caught 3 and half rats!
The half rat was cannibalized by his fellow rats, which I caught over the next day or two......
Problem solved!!

 

[TanksHill]

 

[dragonlaurel]

Could you put a nanny cam in the coop and turn it on when you are going to work? If your hens look different than each other, that would solve the mystery fast.

 

[me&thegals]

That is SO FRUSTRATING!! I know because I am chronically behind on my egg orders, and I have huge suspicions about egg eating, too. The 2 days I am home per week, I collect 3-4 times per day and have close to my old egg production. The days I am not, the production is down 12-18 eggs!

We have left buckets of eggs on the barn floor to see who goes after them. If they actively peck at the eggs, they are goners.

I don't know about the rolling it on the floor trick, though. If I drop an egg and it breaks, most any of our hens will go after it. That's not the same, though, as actively breaking and pecking eggs in order to eat them. You know?

Good luck. We have had eggs eaters through the years and never had to cull the whole flock (80+!) We just need the time to watch for the egg eaters, and everyone's too busy to do it right now!