We've got an egg-eater on our hands...😤

[talkinboutchickens]

Hello everyone. We've got some egg-eater(s) now This has been going on since maybe December? Or November? Or earlier?Honestly it has probably been going on for even longer than that, since I've seen broken eggs in the summer, but we just suspected that our chicken's big bodies were smashing the eggs against the bottom of the nesting boxes. That's definitely a possibility, since they have had yolk on their underbellies before. It's a pain in the butt because we are not getting barely any eggs as it is because it's the middle of winter, and the chickens have been eating all of the eggs that they lay. So we have to buy our eggs in the store now. There is evidence- such as empty egg shells in the run, yolk in the nesting boxes, yolk on the chicken's faces, and half-eaten eggs that are buried underneath the pine shavings somehow.
You would think that it would be easy to find out who the egg eater is by seeing who has yolk on them, but most of them have yolk on themselves, that's the problem. I think there is one chicken who grabs the egg and starts eating it, and the others join in to eat the egg- so there is the culprit, and the partners in crime. The partners in crime obviously are doing nothing wrong, because they are just joining in to eat the egg if you know what I mean. I must find out who the culprit is so I can stop them. Also, have you seen how expensive eggs are in the store??? HOLY COW!!! Great value (Walmart) eggs are 5 dollars and something. We want to start selling eggs for like 6-7 bucks once egg production starts back up but we obviously can't do that if the chickens are eating their eggs Is there a cheap way to stop our egg eater(s)? Getting rid of them or culling them is definitely NOT an option, they are our little babies. Also, a camera would be very hard to install because there is no electricity running to the coop, and cameras are expensive. Is there a way that we can make a DIY automatic-egg-collecting nesting box with only a few materials? Or if you have other suggestions they will be very much appreciated.

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[Noraaaaa]

So this may not be the best way, but it worked for me! I poked a toothpick in two end of an egg then blew out the guts. I then used a syringe to put musterd in it! I did then to a few eggs then gave them to my hens. They stoped immediately and I haven’t had a problem since! Mabey add some hot sause if that dosent work!

 

[talkinboutchickens]

So this may not be the best way, but it worked for me! I poked a toothpick in two end of an egg then blew out the guts. I then used a syringe to put musterd in it! I did then to a few eggs then gave them to my hens. They stoped immediately and I haven’t had a problem since! Mabey add some hot sause if that dosent work!

Wow! That's nuts! I've never heard of that trick before, I will have to try it, and I'll let you know how it works. So I'm assuming that why the chickens stop eating their eggs afterwards is because they are basically traumatized after tasting the mustard in the fake eggs? Also, how did you blow out the guts?

 

[WingItRanch]

Uh oh! Good luck! I'd collect eggs as often as possible and maybe put golf balls in the nest boxes. One peck on those hard golf balls and they'll not want to do that again.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I had an egg eater sometime last year. I put blinders on her for about a week, & it stopped her bad habit.

 

[Noraaaaa]

Wow! That's nuts! I've never heard of that trick before, I will have to try it, and I'll let you know how it works. So I'm assuming that why the chickens stop eating their eggs afterwards is because they are basically traumatized after tasting the mustard in the fake eggs?

YEP LOL

Also, how did you blow out the guts?

1: clean shell
2: poke a lil hole in two ends of the egg
3: put mouth to one end
4: blow guts into bowl

then you just syringe the mustard into the egg!

 

[talkinboutchickens]

YEP LOL


1: clean shell
2: poke a lil hole in two ends of the egg
3: put mouth to one end
4: blow guts into bowl

then you just syringe the mustard into the egg!

How big does the syringe have to be? I have these syringes that you would use to squirt some meds or another liquid of some sort into a chicken's mouth, would that work or would the tip be too large?

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Uh oh! Good luck! I'd collect eggs as often as possible and maybe put golf balls in the nest boxes. One peck on those hard golf balls and they'll not want to do that again.

Would they realize that the golf balls are not real eggs right away? I'm afraid that it would not fool my girls. I also check the boxes every day, and every time, zero eggies

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Uh oh! Good luck! I'd collect eggs as often as possible and maybe put golf balls in the nest boxes. One peck on those hard golf balls and they'll not want to do that again.

And congrats on your BYC Friend medal!!

 

[Hillbenn]

Hello everyone. We've got some egg-eater(s) now This has been going on since maybe December? Or November? Or earlier?Honestly it has probably been going on for even longer than that, since I've seen broken eggs in the summer, but we just suspected that our chicken's big bodies were smashing the eggs against the bottom of the nesting boxes. That's definitely a possibility, since they have had yolk on their underbellies before. It's a pain in the butt because we are not getting barely any eggs as it is because it's the middle of winter, and the chickens have been eating all of the eggs that they lay. So we have to buy our eggs in the store now. There is evidence- such as empty egg shells in the run, yolk in the nesting boxes, yolk on the chicken's faces, and half-eaten eggs that are buried underneath the pine shavings somehow.
You would think that it would be easy to find out who the egg eater is by seeing who has yolk on them, but most of them have yolk on themselves, that's the problem. I think there is one chicken who grabs the egg and starts eating it, and the others join in to eat the egg- so there is the culprit, and the partners in crime. The partners in crime obviously are doing nothing wrong, because they are just joining in to eat the egg if you know what I mean. I must find out who the culprit is so I can stop them. Also, have you seen how expensive eggs are in the store??? HOLY COW!!! Great value (Walmart) eggs are 5 dollars and something. We want to start selling eggs for like 6-7 bucks once egg production starts back up but we obviously can't do that if the chickens are eating their eggs Is there a cheap way to stop our egg eater(s)? Getting rid of them or culling them is definitely NOT an option, they are our little babies. Also, a camera would be very hard to install because there is no electricity running to the coop, and cameras are expensive. Is there a way that we can make a DIY automatic-egg-collecting nesting box with only a few materials? Or if you have other suggestions they will be very much appreciated.

Thanks so much in advance!

Is it a myth that if the chicken or a rooster eats an egg then they become infertile?