# Mustard explosion and they’re still egg eaters!!!



## Duckfarmerpa1 (Mar 17, 2020)

Hi all, so I’ve got 36 laying hens...they lay between 27-32 eggs a day...darn good, right?!  I guess they like it here?  Anyways, when we got the original 12, RIR...I had an occasional egg eater...never caught the culprit.  I was too cheap to buy ceramic eggs, so I found very oval rocks from our landscaping and put and 5-6 in laying boxes.  At that time, they really only used 1-2 nest boxes.  Ok, so, then we bought a whole lot of pullets.  No issues.  We had some in quarantine...2 turned out to be egg eaters, so we ate them, so they didn’t teach the others bad habits...and why keep a chicken who’s not producing?  So, fast forward....in the last few weeks I’ve noticed some eggs yolks in the boxes.  Chris lets it slide.  I bought some fancy Easter eggs that were at goodwill..porcelain?  Well, the eating has ramped up.  I’m losing about 2-3 a day.  I’m pretty positive it’s not soft shell issues..we’ve never had that problem, in fact people comment on how hard the shells are...   Plus, sometimes I find shell remnants.  I see a random chicken nibble at the egg remains, I think I know her, but she looks just like the other of the original 12.  I hate to cull the wrong chickens...at this point I doubt it’s just one?  Yesterday there was an egg with a hole one the middle of it.  Like they started to eat it and got caught.  I figured it was a great time to fill it with mustard.  Well, those darned girls must like mustard??  The egg was torn apart..I have pictures..and the mustard is smashed around.  Plus, I lost two more eggs and the day isn’t done.  I know some say there is nothing you can do....I know some say to sit and watch for the one who does it.  I’d rather not have to sit and watch...and I don’t hav3 a  game camera and Chris will definitely say no to that!!  So, any ideas?


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## Jesusfreak101 (Mar 17, 2020)

Maybe they aren't getting enough protein or This e eggs might have been damaged. I have a few that iits cracked its game on but if it's not they leave be. I have some newer hens that lay soft eggs at the beginning but once their bodies figure it out no problem I know they some times eat them because the bedding is soaked but never figure out weho or wht most of the time but then it stops so i assume their was a problem with the shell.


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## Duckfarmerpa1 (Mar 17, 2020)

We feed them a mixture of all flock, which has 20%, beer grain..which they love, but I’m not sure what the protein is in that?  Then they eat a layer feed with 16%.  Plus, lots of goodies.  I also give them kitten feed from time to time.  They love it and it’s got 33% protein.  Plus, I scramble up old eggs for them,   I can’t imagine she’ll imperfections...because they are so rock solid, but maybe.  I do know that Chris doesn’t bother to clean out the nest box when he finds a mess...ugh!!  He does think it matters, no matter what I say!!  I’ll give even more oyster shells...see if that’ll help??


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## WildBird (Mar 17, 2020)

When I have an egg-eater I just collect eggs about every hour. But I don't get as many eggs as you, or have as many chickens, and probably have more free time too. Good luck!


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## Jesusfreak101 (Mar 17, 2020)

I have oyster shells as well and I don't know about the spent grain from the beer on protien level but you have to know how much each bird gets of everything before you can be sure each is getting the right amount. I give corn, scratch and 28% game bird feed they eat what they want. I also give scraps and they free range i seen them eat frogs snakes bugs. Mostly the flock looks healthy and are bright eye and happy. But they still have faulty eggs from time to time. I would deepen the bedding and see if that helps. If there not enough i find more eggs gone. You can try to figure out who it is but just from my experience they clean their feathers and faces to well. For me to know who is eating them.


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## Beekissed (Mar 18, 2020)

I'm going to give you 44 yrs of chicken wisdom....you don't have an egg eater.   You have a whole flock of egg eaters....truly.   At this time of year when laying begins in earnest, reproductive systems that have been on hold for the winter and new point of lay pullets systems that are just revving up for the first time, you will  have some thin shells and even eggs with no shell at all.  

*******Before you say, "All the eggs we get have nice, firm shells, so it can't be that!"...remember, the eggs you are still collecting aren't those that have been eaten, so they didn't get damaged by a claw as a hen moved in and out of the nest and get eaten as a consequence.   That's the reason ALL your eggs aren't eaten....the ones  not damaged are not an open door to eating.   If pecking open perfectly hard egg shells were a thing in this world, chickens would never have survived as species. ****

As a consequence, eggs get damaged as the increase in nest activity has hens climbing in and out of the nests.  It's instinctive to clean up the damaged eggs and it's even a desired trait, as it keeps predators from scenting the eggs.  Chickens are omnivores and it's natural and normal for them to eat any food they find.

Hear me and take this to the bank.   THIS IS ALL NORMAL.      You don't have to kill any chickens, train any chickens or add anything to their diet.   This happens all over the world where there are temperate climates, at this time of year.    Each year all these forums get flooded with egg eater questions and advice and the advice all seems to work.....because by the time you identify the issue, ask the questions, implement the "cure", the problem is almost over.   It only lasts a few weeks while all the birds that will be laying have started laying well and shell glands have lined out for good production.


It's like when a doctor gives an antibiotic for what he knows is a cold....the antibiotic will not work on a virus, but he knows that by the time they get done with 10 days of meds, the virus will have run its course anyway, so it looks like he actually helped the situation....but he didn't.   And, yes, I'm a nurse and have actually had this discussion with a doctor, he smiling all the while.   He knows that, by the time a person actually makes it to the doc for the symptoms, that cold virus is already about 4-5 days into action, by the time they finish the antibiotic, it's about done and symptoms start to diminish.

Same with egg shells and the resulting "egg eaters".    Do an experiment, if you don't believe me, and just do nothing but wait for a few weeks.  It's like a miracle!   The "egg eaters" just disappear like a miracle.

If you are still having weak shells later on in the season, could be there are hens that are past their laying prime and need to be culled.   I NEVER feed calcium supplement, nor up the protein levels, nor do anything to change the outcome of this phenomenon, as I've tried all of that many, many years ago and found it did nothing to change the course of things.  Totally worthless, but it makes folks feel like they are doing something, so they do it.

Then, come time for molting, you will see the very same thing happen...each time chickens are coming into and going out of a laying cycle, the egg shells can go a bit wonky...get thin, have weird lumps or thin spots or you'll even see "leather" eggs under the roosts and in the nests.    It's all normal and will pass when the hormonal changes are established one way or the other.

If your hens are favoring one or two nests and all are crowding into those, resulting in more eggs being broken at this time, when you gather eggs just leave one egg in each nest you have....chickens like to lay where other chickens have already laid, so it can help you get the hens laying in other nests more equally....this can decrease the damage of eggs until this time passes.  But it will pass, no mustard, no killing, no time outs, nothing else needed but time.

Been raising chickens for 44 yrs now and haven't had to kill an "egg eater" yet....at least, not for eating eggs.  I'd not have a chicken left if I had to kill all the egg eaters!


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## Jesusfreak101 (Mar 18, 2020)

What bee said. Listen to her. Lol you should crack an egg in the chicken yard and see who comes running the whole flock if we damage an egg out there i just toss it to the girls they fight over it like they starving. I even put my bucket of eggs down they come over to investigate and peck an egg or two the walk away. They are egg theifs in feathered disguises. I always found what some on other forums said alittle off.


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## Beekissed (Mar 18, 2020)

Jesusfreak101 said:


> What bee said. Listen to her. Lol you should crack an egg in the chicken yard and see who comes running the how flock if we damage an egg out there i just toss it to the girls they fight over it like they starving. I even put my bucket of eggs down the come investigate and peck an egg or two the walk away. They are egg theirs in feathered disguises. I always found what some on other forums said alittle off.



Yep....been feeding damaged eggs and plain ol' egg shells to flocks for all those many years now and not once has it produced a chronic "egg eater".


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## Mini Horses (Mar 18, 2020)

What Bee says is true.  BUT -- I have had hens whose goal was to eat every egg.  Yes, she waited AT THE NEST and as one laid, she was on it.  Gone.  Eaten.  

I removed her & found she was enjoying 4-5 a day.   No issues after.   Yes, an occasional gets broken & eaten as Bee describes but, not with this one gal.   No, it was her mission in life to eat them!  Only in her area, never another coop.   LOL


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## Jesusfreak101 (Mar 18, 2020)

My theory was bored chickens and over tiny coops and runs for some of them. We have neighbors with the chick coops from tractor supply that birds stay in there 24/7 and mean those that claim to be for 6 hen but more accurately for 3 they have 8 in each i would go crazy if i was their birds i would roll eggs around for fun lol


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## Beekissed (Mar 18, 2020)

Jesusfreak101 said:


> My theory was bored chickens and over tiny coops and runs for some of them. We have neighbors with the chick coops from tractor supply that birds stay in there 24/7 and mean those that claim to be for 6 hen but more accurately for 3 they have 8 in each i would go crazy if i was their birds i would roll eggs around for fun lol



I agree.   Bored chickens with no outlet for foraging behavior will "hunt" for food where they can find it.  

And, no one culls their flocks yearly for nonlayers or poor layers, so shell problems continue to happen and "egg eaters" seem chronic offenders.   Could be why I never have a repeat offender for this, as I never have hens with chronic shell issues that stay in the flock, nor any that do not lay at all.   

Plus, mine all free range at will, so plenty of foraging opportunities outside they are in a rush to get to.


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## B&B Happy goats (Mar 18, 2020)

I feed damaged eggs to mine also, they run to it like candy..no oyster shell here either


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## Jesusfreak101 (Mar 18, 2020)

I find it funny about the oyster shells mine never seemed to eat them i felt they were decor more often. However egg shells even the ducks would kill for. My husband loves watching the chickens when the find a snake they chase each other(for anything tasty really) he thinks it a riot he the 'll commentator for what he calls the keep away game. Lol personally I find it funnier to him.


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## Beekissed (Mar 18, 2020)

I love to watch keep away too.....so entertaining!   My theory is this....the chickens most likely to eat the eggs are those with the thinner shells~they are the ones near or getting off the nest after such eggs are laid, so it's God's way of feeding them back their own loss of nutrition.   I say, let them have it!

Same with broody hens when they eat the duds or damaged eggs in their nest....figure they need the nutrition and it may be God's way of getting it to them so they won't have to leave the nest for it.


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## Beekissed (Mar 18, 2020)

Just cleaned residue of a busted egg out of a nest....most of it eaten, but it wasn't cleaned up real well.  I prefer if they clean them up better.      My hens are too in a hurry to get back out on the grass to linger long eating up their own mess.


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## Xerocles (Mar 18, 2020)

I'm 100% with Beekissed on this. An egg or so occasionally? So what.
I think the mustard was a bad idea. I LOVE boiled eggs dipped in mustard! Take something good and make it better? In hopes of making it less attractive? Nope.
However, if this really bothers you, I'll share what I did back in the beginning. Paint roller trays.(try to find smooth bottom ones). A board across the "deep" end. Just enough hay around the edges to give the appearance of a "nest". Chicken lays, stands up, egg rolls down the tray, under the board.
It worked, but I've given it up. Never had a problem with egg eaters.


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## farmerjan (Mar 18, 2020)

I will just agree to disagree on some of what has been said.  There are often hens that will wait to eat eggs as @Mini Horses  mentioned.  I have found that to be very true over nearly 55 years of having chickens, working with both purebreds and on commercial chicken farms since I was a kid.  There is some truth to the ones getting older and their system can no longer support the needs of the body so an egg will come down the system and not put enough shell on it before it is laid.  They will come out with thin shells, bumps and imperfections and often with just the membrane and no shell at all - what she called leather eggs.  
But I have found that more often than not once a hen gets the taste, there are some that will just keep at it.  I have sat and watched a hen go after and purposely pick a perfectly formed egg until the can get it against something and peck until they break the shell. So I would not discount that there is one or two that just might be problems. 
Making sure there is plenty of bedding in the nest is a must so they don't drop onto a hard surface.  And yes, they tend to pick a favorite nest and then they all want to lay in it so you are going to have to pick up the eggs more often.  Putting fake eggs in each nest will encourage them to maybe spread out a little because they do like to lay where another has already laid.... tells their little bird brain that it is a "safe place" to go lay an egg. 
My birds have always utilized the oyster shells and the "granite grit" even when they free ranged.  Some more than others.  But I have always kept it available.  Even the oyster shells will help their gizzards to grind up the feed they eat and a little bit will get dissolved into their system to provide more calcium.  
It may be that in your area they may have a deficiency,  like there is of Vit E and Selenium in parts of this country. So I wouldn't worry about if you don't see them eating it.  They aren't going to devour it like feed.  Took mine over a year to use up a 25 lb bag for 125 hens free range out on pasture. But they did want a little bit on occasion. 

I never feed back eggs to my chickens.  They are too important for other things, even for the cats and dogs, to be feeding it back to a chicken.  Like I also don't feed any meat to them.  After years of seeing and listening to some of the old breeders of fighting chickens at the poultry shows, it is well known that they feed meat to the fighting cocks..... not going to encourage my chickens by feeding them chicken.... or any meat on purpose....Yes they are omnivores, yes they will eat baby mice, and are some of the worst scavengers there are,  eating anything dead they can find and to also pick at and eat any bird that may have a problem.  They will also pick feathers and can cause a bloody mess with birds just starting to feather in with pin feathers.  It doesn't mean they are bored although often in small pens they are. Some are just cannabalistic and they need to be in the soup pot. 
I also DO CULL for non-productive birds.  I do not see the purpose of feeding a chicken that does not produce for me.  Many times the non-productive ones are the bullies and the egg eaters and the feather pickers.  They will have the nicest feathers and look the prettiest.  But if they are there to lay, they are not there to just be pretty, and they are not there to eat the production of the others.  That is thrown away feed and money. 

My purebreds that we show occasionally, although I do not show like I used to, are not nearly as productive as the sex-links that are bred for laying.  They are there for looks somewhat, but they still have to produce.  I like to look at them.  But I want my eggs to eat too so they have to justify the time and effort that I put into them.  Pets do it as companions, LGD's do it protectors of their flocks,  our llamas do it as protectors of the sheep even though we do not have them to reproduce, my horses were for my riding enjoyment, my cows are for both replacement cattle and cattle to sell, as well as meat in the freezer,  my dairy cattle are for milk and to raise more calves.  They have to at least pay for themselves,  IN SOME FORM OR MANNER.  An egg eating chicken is not making any contribution.  An occasional eaten egg is not a big deal, it happens.  One continually doing it is a big deal.


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## Beekissed (Mar 18, 2020)

My chickens love spicy foods, even straight hot pepper seeds, cores and such from canning scraps.   Mustard would seem like a nice sauce to them.  They don't seem to be able to taste things like hot, bitter, etc., or if they do, they don't seem to mind it.


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## Jesusfreak101 (Mar 18, 2020)

I am also process older birds that don't lay. I have a group of 6 year old hens that still lay well so they still around. Once they stop i end up processing them. I also have very young lays at 5 months (they started young they lay tiny eggs) i tend to sale some when the flocks to large or we have a drop in customers. Before I was getting alittle over 2 dozen a day and had no one buying now that i cut back on birds the eggs are never here long. Ironically. I be increasing the flock again but they be new layers through the winter so that be great. I am working on chick and small bird pens because of the stray cats we have that we seen take the smaller laying birds and chicks. I am not okay losing them and we shot them on sight and hunt the down. We also have the odd hawk and coyote crosses. The stray dogs as well. Oh and had a rat snake that ate my eggs after the pigs joined us he gone. I like the pigs lol i probably keep some hogs around non stop for that purpuse. Stella gets broken eggs as well and the naughty pigs start finding them as well until they got their own pen. Now if a eggs laid in the pig house oh well not much I can,do there but the rest are mine. And thanks to the calf the human kids aren't going in there to get the eggs so less broken eggs. Lol.


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## Beekissed (Mar 18, 2020)

Jesusfreak101 said:


> I am also process older birds that don't lay. I have a group of 6 year old hens that still lay well so they still around. Once they stop i end up processing them. I also have very young lays at 5 months (they started young they lay tiny eggs) i tend to sale some when the flocks to large or we have a drop in customers. Before I was getting alittle over 2 dozen a day and had no one buying now that i cut back on birds the eggs are never here long. Ironically. I be increasing the flock again but they be new layers through the winter so that be great. I am working on chick and small bird pens because of the stray cats we have that we seen take the smaller laying birds and chicks. I am not okay losing them and we shot them on sight and hunt the down. We also have the odd hawk and coyote crosses. The stray dogs as well. Oh and had a rat snake that ate my eggs after the pigs joined us he gone. I like the pigs lol i probably keep some hogs around non stop for that purpuse. Stella gets broken eggs as well and the naughty pigs start finding them as well until they got their own pen. Now if a eggs laid in the pig house oh well not much I can,do there but the rest are mine. And thanks to the calf the human kids aren't going in there to get the eggs so less broken eggs. Lol.



You need you a good farm dog to keep those nasty cats off your flock!  They will still eat any eggs laid out in the field but at least you wouldn't lose any birds.


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## Jesusfreak101 (Mar 18, 2020)

She does but she not allowed in the animal pen. Unsupervised that is she a herding dog and gets excited to work the birds and can over stress them some times. So i prefer her not being in there. She can only do so much even are cats help but the amount of barn cats his grandparents have and the amount they feed them does stop them from being near starving. They have plently of rats to hunt but the chicks are easier to catch. One of the reason i or dh shoot first ask later.


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## Duckfarmerpa1 (Mar 19, 2020)

Well, space is not an issue here.  The coop is 21’ x 18’ with 12’ high ceilings...lots of roost bars, a ladder too.  Plus, they only free range and love that!! During the day we even bring the feed outside to encourage them to stay outs.  They are very happy hens...I was just, some easy way to fix it.  But, what @Beekissed said makes perfect sense...we haven’t had an egg eating issue since last fall, when our first pullets started laying.  I’ll bet their eggs had deformities.  And, now that everyone is laying...the few that are not up to par...get taken out.  Makes sense!  Well, at least I don’t have to worry about this anymore MM. thanks!!


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