The Call Again Farm Journal

Yet another problem! The hens are eating their eggs. A few days ago, there were a couple of eggs that were cracked by the time I got them in the house, but I just figured that I had been careless in collecting them. Apparently, though, the hens have a calcium defiency. I've read that it can be impossible to cure hens eating eggs, but I've had a different experience. Last winter, we didn't get our turkeys on layer ration soon enough and they started eating their own eggs. I started giving them free-choice oyster shells for calcium. I also did some research and found that chili pepper mixed with water will cure hens eating eggs. With that inspiration, I filled a broken turkey egg with about a quarter of a bottle of tabasco sauce. The turkeys amazingly ate the whole egg, but never touched another egg again. I just got another jar of tabasco sauce, and an egg with a very strange taste will be appearing in the chicken coop very, very soon... I understand that this sounds very mean, especially to those who don't keep poultry. You have to understand that the alternate to measures like these is killing the whole flock.