Egg-eating started overnight and I almost lost a whole flock

I was skeptical when my neighbor said chickens can get hooked on eating eggs after one accidental break. Then last Tuesday I found three smashed eggs in the coop with yolks licked clean. Turns out one hen got a taste and taught the others within 48 hours. I spent $15 on ceramic dummy eggs and had to isolate her for a week before the habit stopped. Has anyone else dealt with a chicken that just won't quit even with fake eggs in the nest?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyl186d ago

Dang that sucks! One bad apple really does spoil the bunch with chickens. I had a hen that would peck at her own eggs the second they hit the ground no matter what I did. Fake eggs did absolutely nothing for her she'd just ignore them and wait for the real ones. Ended up having to cull her cause she was teaching the whole flock bad habits. Sometimes you just gotta cut your losses with those stubborn ones.

harper_smith6d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah I used to be one of those people who thought you could train any chicken out of bad habits with enough patience. Thought it was all about the setup or the feed or whatever. Then I had one that started eating her own eggs and within a week half the flock was doing it too. Tried everything you mentioned plus some extra stuff I read online. Nothing worked. Had to cull her too and the rest stopped after that. Sometimes you just gotta accept that some birds are broken and they'll ruin the whole operation if you let them stick around.