How to keep backyard chickens from egg eating without having to cull?
My small backyard flock of 8 hens has an egg eater (Maybe two - not sure). Have tried ceramic eggs, helped a little for a while. Still finding broken/eaten eggs though. Any ideas would be great. The culprit is my favorite bird and best layer.
Related Discussions
Suggested Project Book
One technique is to take a raw egg or two, blow it out (do this by making small holes at the top and bottom of the shell, and use a drinking straw to blow it out), and refill it with mustard – something chickens hate.
Offer the mustard eggs to your chickens, and they should definitely turn up their beaks at that egg variety. Repeat this until they stop their egg eating behavior. Of course, the easiest way to avoid an egg eating problem is to prevent it from starting in the first place. The following are good practices for preventing birds from developing a bad habit:
Put a small amount of salt in their water, as they often don"t get enough.
Don't blame your chickens unless you see them in the act. I had the same problems, they I realized it was a gopher snake that wanted a breakfast. Also rats ate a few.