A few years ago I began to notice a decrease in egg production without any real reason as to why. In trying to figure out what was going on, I started watching my chickens very closely. My first clue was a hen with egg on her face! Then one morning I actually caught another hen in the act of eating an egg. So the challenge, and major research, was on‼
I don’t think that anybody really knows why chickens eat eggs. Some say they need the protein, others say they need the calcium from the egg shell. Still others think that an egg gets broken accidentally and the curious hen investigates, with her beak, and discovers something that she really enjoys! I tend to believe the latter. Maybe it brings back memories of her first meal. There are two things that I do know from my experience with egg eating chickens: 1) they let the secret out and tell all the other chickens how great egg eating tastes, and 2) once the behavior is started, it’s darn near impossible to stop!
Once my egg reduction problem was confirmed as egg eaters, I read article after article on what to do to discourage the destructive behavior. I tried every recommendation that I came across, but to no avail. An interesting note here, chickens don’t have nearly the number of taste receptors as people and the ones they do have are far back in their mouth, so trying to make eggs distasteful to stop the behavior, just doesn’t work. I watched my chickens diligently for weeks until I felt comfortable with my identification of the culprits, and then removed these chickens from my laying flock. It was more than half of my chickens. I put them out to pasture, so to speak. They became permanent free-rangers. I have a hard time culling a chicken I know, and chickens can be useful on a farm even if they aren’t providing eggs. They are good at keeping the fly population down, they are adept at catching mice, and they are good at cleaning up the garden at the end of the season. Squash beetles and snails don’t have a chance! So, my egg eaters hang out with the horses and goats these days.
I started over with some new chicks, mail order hatchlings. To make sure that I did not end up with egg eaters again, I went on the offensive and began practicing precautionary measures. I make sure that I feed my chickens a diet with sufficient protein and provide my hens with supplemental calcium in the form of well crushed egg shells. I have several feeding stations so that everyone can find someplace to eat and won’t get bullied and go away hungry.
I make sure that there are plenty of nesting boxes for my flock, and each nesting box has a nice cushy layer of bedding to help protect newly laid eggs. I have curtains partially covering the nesting box openings – out of sight, out of mind.
I do have a couple of golf balls in a few of the nesting boxes just in case there is a curious chicken who wants to try and peck, and I try to collect the eggs a few times a day. Lastly, I try to keep my chickens occupied and busy so they don’t have time to get into too much trouble. In addition to some of the ideas I gave in a recent post titled Boredom Busters, here’s another idea: I have a plastic kiddie pool that I used for my geese during the summer. Now that the night temperatures are freezing, water in the pool has been bagged for the winter. Instead, I filled it with straw for the chickens. They love getting in there and scratching around AND if you throw in some shelled, unsalted peanuts, the interest increases tenfold! They also enjoy cranberries or sunflower seeds in the mix and I have thought about maybe trying some raisins.
Dealing with egg eaters is very frustrating, especially since there is no sure cure. Have you experienced this problem? What did you do?