Egg eaters

[countrymom22]

Okay, my crazy chicken people.  My current flock of mixed laying hens have become egg eaters.  I think the 3 main culprits are all white leghorns, but since I have a dozen of them, I really didn't want to have to cull them all.  I've tried the wooden/porcelain eggs.  Didn't stop them, they just rolled the fake eggs out of the way.  And hubby and son kept bringing in the fakes thinking they were real!  We have resorted to gathering eggs every hour from 7am through noon, with some success, but that isn't really feasible long term.

This problem kept me from getting new chicks this spring because I'm afraid that the older flock will teach this bad habit to any new chicks I get.  The only other option I have come up with is to keep this flock till Fall and then cull them all when they stop laying.  This is feasible because they are all older birds with the youngest being 3 years old.  Then I'll buy day old chicks in the fall and replace the entire flock which won't start to lay until spring.  I love having my girls around and hate the thought of culling hens that aren't involved.  I have no problem with the idea of culling the trouble makers.  We sould keep the rooster as he is always outside and definitely not involved.

Any thoughts or suggestions for me?  

[mogal]

I've never tried this but I've read about people who have blown some eggs then filled them with a nasty mixture like cayenne pepper, hot mustard and such? Once it gets into their beaks, it should sting for a good long time and hopefully deter any future egg eating.

Let us know what you end up doing and how successful it is, please.

[Maura]

I don't think cayenne pepper or similar bothers chickens. That's why you can use it to deter mice from around the coop. I would create a separation. Take three of the leghorns and isolate them for a couple of days. If it's not one of them, mark them in some way (magic marker on a back feather) and isolate three more. When you find a group of three that eats eggs, isolate the three of them. In a matter of days you can discover who the malcontents are.

[countrymom22]

Both good ideas, thank you. I also had a thought about marking the guilty parties. I was thinking about attaching a bingo marker to a long pole. Then when I open the nest box door and find chickens too interested in the eggs, I could easily reach them and get the dye/ink on them, as without a long pole I'll never be able to reach them.

I'll let you know what we wind up doing and what the outcome is. Wish me luck!