Chicken ate an egg!!!!

[pfost262]

I live on Long Island and we were just hit with the big snow storm a few days ago. I have been checking in on my chickens (I have five) I've kept them cooped up to stay warm and yesterday I noticed I had 1 egg. I left it be because a hen was sitting on it. Today I opened up the coop and there was 1 egg and the hens were pecking at and eating the remnants of I guess yesterdays egg. I think they may have just broken it on accident because they sleep where they lay. However, is there anything I should worry about or anything I should do? I don't want them eating their eggs. Thank you!!

 

[sourland]

'Nemo' - when in the devil did they start naming snow storms? What a monster for you folks - not so bad here in NJ. Very possibly the egg may have frozen, cracked, thawed and then the hens ate it. Collect your eggs frequently so they do not freeze and crack and hopefully your hens will not develop this very bad habit.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It's very hard to break egg eaters. I put hard things like fake eggs, round rocks, golf balls in the nests. I also have some of those plastic easter eggs that I pack with sand. Then gather eggs often until they think that eggs are very hard or not so tasty.
You're best off letting them out of the coop or they get bored and into mischief.
Just cause you're cold doesn't mean chickens are.

The weather channel started naming winter storms this year. I don't think the National Weather Service is very happy about it.

 

[kittykittykitty]

I once had a hen that was eating her eggs... and everyone else's but I found a way to break her of her habit . Blow out an egg and fill it with mustard (make sure the shell is almost fully intact (not cracked in half) and doesn't have a lot of raw egg left in it.) Chickens HATE the taste of mustard and once she pecks into that egg she won't do it again

.

If she continues, all I can say is collect the eggs right after they're laid to avoid more being eaten.