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[Ain't Nobody Here]

As a last resort I tried filling a shop egg with extra hot chilli powder, put it in the nestbox and stepped back. In less than a minute ...

 

"Thanks, mum, that's delicious " they all said, through beakfuls of dripping egg.

 

So back into the kitchen to get the mustard powder .

 

"Hmm, we're not so keen on that, mum . We'll just persevere for a bit and try to find little bits of egg that don't have any of that yucky stuff on it".

 

They gave up eventually .

 

So now I know I have three demon egg eaters .

 

It's supposed to be a really hard habit to break and we're going on holiday soon .

[Chickvic]

Glad you figured it out but are there no traces of shell at all?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Occasionally there are but not often enough for me to work out they were eating them . It really just looked like the occasional fragile egg that had got trodden on.

 

I've ordered 2 pot eggs so maybe that'll do the trick. I'm going to put mustard in an egg each day till we go away too.

 

Wish me luck .

[mostin]

Oh dear , what a nightmare, poor you.

 

I hadn't realised that's why you weren't getting any eggs. I hope you break them of it soon, good luck .

[Chickvic]

Hope you wean them off their bad habit

[Space Chick]

Glad you've got to the bottom of the mystery ANH.

 

Fingers crossed you can break the habit

[WitchHazel]

That's rotten luck ANH. Hope you get it sorted.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Sadly, it doesn't seem to be the only problem . There was an intact yolk in the poo tray this morning so there must still be softies . No sign of the shell so I suppose it must've been laid on the bars, pecked and eaten but the yolk fell through.

[Old Speckled Hen]

Birds are not supposed to be able to taste Chilli. That's why you can put chilli powder on bird food to stop squirrels.

Sorry ANH for that bit of useless info that doesn't really help

My mum says rotten eggs do the trick but I haven't a clue where you'd get one

Best of luck

[Ain't Nobody Here]

So I've discovered .

 

I'm now going down the route of a roll away nestbox and a couple of fake eggs (and some more mustard!)

 

Unfortunately, we're going away on Saturday so they'll have a couple of weeks to perfect their egg-eating habits .

[Old Speckled Hen]

Unfortunately, we're going away on Saturday so they'll have a couple of weeks to perfect their egg-eating habits .

 

A perfect time to make a few rotten eggs.

Just phoned mum ..... she says to make few pin pricks in a few eggs and leave them in a cake tin or somesuch in the shed or the garden. Should be just right when you get home.

 

Enjoy your hols

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Just phoned mum ..... she says to make few pin pricks in a few eggs and leave them in a cake tin or somesuch in the shed or the garden. Should be just right when you get home.

 

Should I ask how your mum is such an expert on rotten eggs . That's not a bad tip, actually . I might just do that (although I might buy a gas mask for cleaning them up .)

[The Dogmother]

Could you leave some mustard-filled eggs for your chicken sitters to pop in the nest each day?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That's an idea . It's a good friend who's great with animals so I'm sure she wouldn't mind!

 

Would you break the egg, remove the contents & fill with mustard or try to mix the mustard with the contents?

[The Dogmother]

The standard procedure is to blow the egg then fill it up with a syringe, but there must be an easier method.

[hse]

HELP!! EARLY HENOPAUSE? Missed the first part of this, but i have what looks like a similar problem. three hens (two brown nicks, one amber comet) couple of softies started march, then less laying down from three eggs most days to two, then one, now none bar occasional softie or one egg every few days. Wormed them, upped calcium, no treats, lively, eating well, red combs, no sign of mites. They seem to be going into the nest box but when i go to look, nothing there.

 

Could this also be a sign of egg eating? I was beginning to wonder if they were henopausal but they are only two years old. could it be the breeds? though seems odd for all three of them to go like this.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That describes exactly the path I've been down .

 

Test the theory by putting a shop bought egg in the run. My 3 fell on it like they hadn't eaten for months .

[beach chick]

oh dear, this is a toughie! ANH and I already in touch about rollaway nest boxes. had a look at them again today - you've obviously got to prop them up somehow so the egg rolls away, so I will try that again (2 eggs broken at first try, which seemed to defeat the purpose).

 

for the mustard eggs, maybe a mustard/water solution might work - to thin the mustard so it can be syringed into the eggshell more easily. I've been thinking about smearing a pot egg in mustard, but I guess it only works if they can get their pecky little beaks into the shell itself. may well try the rotten egg trick, if I can bring myself to do it.

[hse]

well at least I know its not just me, thanks. you would think there would be more mess in the nest box or a few clues.. i.e. broken shell somewhere? and how would i attach an egg chute thingy to a cube? My husband is beginning to read articles on how to despatch hens which is very worrying...! (not that I'd let him)

[Ain't Nobody Here]

We got an egg today .

 

And it was hard-shelled and unpecked .

 

Maybe the mustard smeared all over an empty egg shell did the trick .

 

Early days though - I'm not counting my chickens (or should that be eggs ).

[Old Speckled Hen]

Wonderful news

[Chickvic]

It's a start! What I wouldn't give for an egg...

[Reikiranf]

That's great news ANH Things are looking up here too we've been getting 1 good egg a day for 11 days now and no softies in the poop tray for a week!

 

Went to get the girlies more food today and the stables had no mash of any variety so when I said that mine didn't like pellets the girl suggested I try them on ex bat pellets as they were smaller.

 

So I put some in their treat bowl and they dived on them and started gobbling them up so lets hope it lasts.

 

Amanda

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Another "proper" egg from Maisie on Tuesday, nothing for my birthday yesterday , 2 softies from Maisie/Milly today plus a proper egg from Molly .

 

I've ordered some more limestone flour anyway but feel we may have turned a corner .

[Space Chick]

That is good news

 

So, did you give any more thought to getting a couple more girls when you were on holiday