Chickens breaking eggs?

[belgie]

About 4 weeks ago I picked up 6 ready to lays, my first hens. It was love at first sight, and the day after bringing them home I had 2 eggs. It took about 3 weeks before I was collecting 6 eggs a day. My concern is, I have found 2 eggs in the course of the 4 weeks "smashed" and yesterday one with the top "poked" but the membrane still intact. I thought the first one, maybe the shell wasn't hard I know laying the perfect eggs takes time and practice, but now I'm wondering if one of the hens is braking them. Why would they do this and what can I do about it?

 

[peepacheep]

I find a broken eggs in my nest boxes from time to time. Sometimes the nest material shifts away to the edges and the egg is breaks on the bare wood. Fitting 2-3 thick layers of cardboard on the bottom of the nest boxes then adding hay and shavings on top has made a big difference. One of my hens lays an extra dark brown egg first thing in the morning, and suddenly her eggs turned up with a small round hole but membrane intact for nearly a week. Finally saw what was happening when one of the young, huge Speckled Sussex went broody. She claimed the first egg she found each morning. While she fussed around trying to get the other hen's egg under her just right she unknowingly poked her toe nail through the shell. She certainly was not trying to eat it. Just the opposite! She had complete broody hissy fits when I tried to collect eggs from under her. Occasionally I find the remains of a shell-less egg or an extremely thin shelled egg. The hens clean up those as much as possible. Even though the hens are on layer feed and have oyster shell available sometimes the eggs come out less than perfect. Hope this is helpful!