chickens eating eggs & wont eat oyster shells!

[Baby Chick]

Sometimes when I go to collect eggs I find that one of the hens has eaten or is eating one of the eggs. The vet says its because of a calcium deficiency, so we mixed crushed oyster shells in with their feed but they won't eat it! they will seriously pick the oyster shells out & not eat them! So I don't know what to do! I can't let them keep eating the eggs but they just WON'T eat the shells! Any Advise???????????? Thanks!

 

[RedIII]

Some hens just develop a taste for eggs and get into the bad habit of eating them. I'm not certain what the cause always is - I'd heard it was because they're craving protein, but I don't know that that's the answer, either. If you're trying to give them more calcium, you could try saving the eggshells whenever you use eggs, then crushing them up and putting them back in with their feed.