Egg eating

[McReynolds]

Recently had a question about 2 of my hens laying thin eggs now I caught a hen in the act laying a egg and quickly pecking it to eat it I lifted egg it was brittle but held its shape not as tough as you would expect but not soft , what do I do? If I get then to lay better shelled eggs will it stop our do I have egg eaters if so what's best way to deal with it?

 

[MadGardener]

Recently had a question about 2 of my hens laying thin eggs now I caught a hen in the act laying a egg and quickly pecking it to eat it I lifted egg it was brittle but held its shape not as tough as you would expect but not soft , what do I do? If I get then to lay better shelled eggs will it stop our do I have egg eaters if so what's best way to deal with it?

I've only experienced egg eating with eggs that break. It has included thin, brittle shelled eggs that break when moved. I'll let someone more experienced address that.

What do you feed your chickens, including treats? What % protein is the feed?? Is their feed pellet/crumble, or whole pieces of grain? Do you offer oyster shell or crushed egg shell?

 

[Callender Girl]

Supplemental calcium, as @MadGardener suggested, can help with stronger shells. However, I free feed oyster shell in a big dish that all the girls can access. Despite that, one of the Buckeyes -- and not either of her same-age siblings from the same source -- tends to lay eggs with shells that are almost rubbery. Sometimes the "best" solutions don't work for everyone.

To discourage egg eating, you can try putting fake eggs in the nest box so pecking hens don't get a reward for nibbling at the "egg." I was cleaning one of the coops this week, removed its resident fake egg, neglected to put it back and yesterday, I found one of the Cochins had eaten all the innards out of one of their eggs. She nicely left the shell mostly intact, so I got a surprise when I picked up an empty vessel.

Good luck with getting things straightened out.