Broody hen ATE one of her eggs!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ericasl]

Help, I have a 2 year old silkie that has been sitting on eggs, we gave her fertile eggs on June 19th. She started going broody about 3 days before we gave her eggs. She has food and water right by her 16% laying crumbles, I also make her get up once a day to get food and water. Well I went out just now to check food and water and Juice my broody had eaten one of her eggs! She had eggs all over her face she did not eat the shell just the inside, WHY would she do that. I took all of her eggs away and gave them to another broody. What do I do with her now? She also has kept on laying I marked all the fertile eggs I put under her, I have no roo. She had layed 5 eggs of her own I really do not want a crazy eggs eating hen.

 

[cluckychick]

Maybe she was eliminating a bad egg and it broke and she just thought she'd clean the mess up??

 

[Wynette]

It's sometimes due to them not getting enough protein; you can offer dry cat food as a treat for this. But, if it's become a habit, it's really hard to get them to stop. One idea is to blow out a few eggs and squirt some really hot mustard into the blown eggs; this way, when/if she tries to eat another, she'll get a taste of the icky insides and possibly not eat any more. You can also try wooden eggs, since they can't break them - that could also discourage. I've also heard of some folks using goose eggs, as they have much thicker shells and are difficult for a chicken to break into. GOOD LUCK!