Caught my EE eating her own egg this morning

[azurbanclucker]

As the title says, and a little back story. About a month ago my only EE started laying and we got 4 eggs from her. Then I built a new coop and locked her out of the coop she was using to lay in, because I turned it into a grow out coop for some smaller birds. She hadn't laid since then until I got a fairy egg yesterday that was pretty deformed (looked like a melted chocolate egg in a blue candy shell) in the new coop.

This morning I go out to look for eggs, and she's back in the old coop (thanks stupid tortoise for wrecking it again!) and comes charging out with what I'm assuming is the egg she just laid in her mouth. (she's the only non-brown layer on line at the moment, and it wes definitely light blue) It looked pretty soft, so I'm thinking she's low on calcium for sure, but I'm more concerned about the egg eating. From what I've read, egg eaters are obviously bad, and I'm going to keep an eye on her and see if this is a fluke because she's down on calcium, or if she's a problem.

What can I do to break her of this if it's a continuing issue?

Thanks in advance for advice.

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

Collect eggs as often as possible.
You can also blow out a egg, and put mustard in it.Or use fake eggs in the next box.Not so tasty then, Hm?

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Fake eggs are big must! Also make sure your hens are receiving a balanced diet. Often times they will eat their eggs when lacking nutrients, like calcium. Also make sure they have lots of things to keep them entertained. Boredom is also a major contributor to egg eating.

 

[azurbanclucker]

Fake eggs are big must! Also make sure your hens are receiving a balanced diet. Often times they will eat their eggs when lacking nutrients, like calcium. Also make sure they have lots of things to keep them entertained. Boredom is also a major contributor to egg eating.

The stupid thing is, I put out fake eggs. They all tossed them out of the nesting boxes they wanted to lay in. I've got 4 at laying age. The other 3 all tossed out the fakes onto the coop floor, but didn't bother each other's eggs at all. The EE wasn't laying so never bothered them.

I'm going to adjust their food and see if that helps. They free range in my yard, chase bugs, each other, have things to explore and play with, etc... I sure hope they're not bored, but I'm no chicken so it's hard to tell.

 

[Lynn-n-JimsVT]

We are now dealing with this issue. It was caused I think by someone (who shall remain nameless and who's name is not Jim) giving the hens eggs to eat by occasionally tossing one on the run floor. This is a practice that is CERTAIN to cause problems and guess what it did. So I've upped their feed and scratch and I'm working hard to get eggs outta the coop twice in the mornings vs the laid (pun intended) back approach. I think the Mustard trick sounds like a really good idea. Has anyone else tried that? Results?