Hen is eating other chickens eggs. How do I stop her?!

[Skyleen13]

I’ve got a mixed flock of 10 hens & 1 rooster. my hens are all laying & have been for at least the last 2 months. Recently they began to slow down laying eggs & are molting. I was expecting this & they’ve all been getting lots of extra protein to help them out. The problem is is that I’ve got 1 hen who is actively going after any & all eggs the others have been laying. She’s even harassing any hen on the nests! She’s a Rhode Island Red & she’s about in the middle of the pecking order. She’s been doing this for the last 2-3 weeks. I don’t know what to do. Please help. I’m going so far as to give them fresh roasted fish every day to see if it’s just extra protein they need. Once she cracks the egg the others then eat it dispite the “mom” trying to stop them.

 

[aart]

I would separate her.
Is she laying too?

 

[Aapomp831]

I would put her in the crock pot. That’sa very difficult habit to break.

 

[neo71665]

Frankly she'd be in a frying pan. Hard habit to break em of and she is teaching the others to do it.

 

[Skyleen13]

I would separate her.
Is she laying too?

Yes she’s laying as well. I’m loosing at least 1 egg a day thanks to her.

 

[Skyleen13]

I would put her in the crock pot. That’sa very difficult habit to break.

Dang it. Is there nothing I can do?

 

[Skyleen13]

Frankly she'd be in a frying pan. Hard habit to break em of and she is teaching the others to do it.

Would separating her from the flock help?

 

[FuzzyCritters]

Here are a few I did when my flock ate eggs. I did the "egg and mustard" trick, where you hollow an egg out and fill the shell with mustard. Chickens hate the taste of mustard, so when they eat the egg they are in for a nasty surprise. You have to feed them a couple of these eggs to reinforce the fact that eggs are gross. This doesn't always work, but sometimes it discourages them from just going for the eggs. Mine only stopped eating eggs for a few days after I did this, so I guess it's not that effective.

Another thing that works is to draw their attention away. You can get a fake realistic egg and put a large red dot on it, and her attention will be drawn to that egg. I also put fake eggs all over the chicken run, and the chickens got discouraged because they were not able to break the fake eggs. Then I put a flock block in the run and that pulled their attention away from all the eggs, real and fake.

The last thing I did was nesting box curtains. The curtains made the nests darker, so the chickens couldn't see the eggs very well. Hanging the curtains was very effective, because the chickens didn't eat their eggs anymore after they were hung up.

If nothing works, I would try separating her from the others. If she continues to eat eggs, find her a new home or cull her.

 

[Aapomp831]

Dang it. Is there nothing I can do?

In my personal experience, no. I’m having the same problem right now; we’re putting a game camera in there to figure out who it is and then they are going to be culled immediately.

 

[aart]

I'd separate her first.
Watch the rest of the flock, gather eggs as often as possible.
The fake eggs are a good thing to try too.

How long have your birds been laying?
How much space in coop and run do they have, in feet by feet?
Dimensions and pics would help here.