hacking hens

[rats]

how do you stop hens from eating the eggs?

[Polly Fouracre]

God knows! If we were hard hearted we would find the culprit and turn her into soup.I had a bout of egg eating earlier this year but these were soft shelled eggs that broke easily. Since putting oyster shell grit down for them and hanging up cabbages to entertain them I have had no problems.
If you have a determined egg eater though and can identify her I suppose soup is the only way unless you can devise a way to keep the eggs from her i.e. a rolling nest box.

[Birdie Wife]

oh heck - with difficulty I'm afraid. Are they eating soft-shelled eggs that happen to break, or are they cracking hard eggs open themselves? If it's the latter then it's a habit that can be really hard to break. You can leave a rubber/crock egg (these are available online and from some pet stores/ironmongers as fake eggs to encourage a hen to stay broody - never worked for mine though!!) in the nest box for them to have an unsuccessful go at, but you must remove the eggs as soon as they are laid so they don't get a chance to eat them.

[rats]

hacking hens

thanks for the egg advice i will try chicken and noodle soup this weekend once i've found the culprit