chickens are eating their eggs

[Pamjay]

So I already know this is bad. I caught them in the act. Now what do I do? Helpful suggestions are appreciated. Thanks. Pam

 

[turtlebird]

Are you able to collect the eggs several times a day? That might help. You could try putting your decoy eggs back out. Are they breaking the eggs, or are they thin shelled? My hens won't touch any egg, except the soft shelled eggs or one that was so thin shelled that it broke.

 

[gwill23]

Yea I agree see if you can catch them in the act. Mine love eating the shells when I feed them back to them. But they only touch the laid eggs if they are soft shell or get cracked just from getting pushed around the nest. Most of the time they don't even eat those. But, a soft shell egg. It looked like feeding time at the zoo.

 

[Pamjay]

I have placed the decoy eggs back in the coop. They currently lay their eggs under the porch (which I just discovered today). They started doing that when three of them got broody at once and there was no room in the coop. Their eggs have always been perfect and even the shell remnants I did find were average thickness. I check for eggs at least two times daily. Most days that's the most I can do as I work full-time. I am wondering if there is sufficient protein in their diet. With the weather being so dry I wonder if they are finding the bugs they need. I am going to supplement their diet with yogurt and, god forbid, maybe some meat. I really don't know what to do- I should be getting 3-4 eggs a day and I'm lucky if I get 1-2. Thanks for the suggestions. Pam

 

[Pamjay]

Oh, and I did catch one of them in the act of pecking at her egg immediately after she laid it.

 

[bakerjw]

The first eggs from our girls were damaged. One was dented from a fall from the roost and the other was cracked open. I set the one that was dented outside of the coop and crawled in to retrieve the other one. When I came out I found that one of the girls had seen me lay the dented egg out so obviously it was a treat for her! She was pecking away happy as a clam in mud. I was concerned that she might turn into an egg eater. I have since found some fake eggs of the same color as theirs and leave them in the nests. My thought is that they might peck them enough and figure out that the round brown things aren't edible.

 

[newTexan2chickens]

I had a rash of this too when I added some new hens. Thankfully it stopped after I put some decoy eggs in the nests.

 

[turtlebird]

Black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) are a good supplemental protein also. I put a handful in with their scratch (20 hens). Do a search and see how much other people here are using.