chickens eating eggs

[suzfine]

My young chickens are eating their eggs! I have 3 golden comets around 20 weeks old, one who has already started laying (the other 2 have not yet though 1 should be any day by the look of her comb). We got a week of good eggs and then nothing but broken soft eggs if anything at all. They are on layer feed with separate oyster shell available to them. I put them in a large tractor every day ....they seem pretty healthy. 2 weeks of oyster shell and the chicken is still laying sporadically and if she does, it's very soft. Also, they are eating the eggs. We've tried the mustard egg thing....They eat that too NOTHING LEFT! I don't know what to do! Please...any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ruthster55]

Golf balls or if you don’t have those, fill plastic Easter eggs with, um, concrete or Kwik-Crete?

Very unrewarding to egg-eaters.

 

[Sonya9]

If eggs break (laid on roost for instance) or are soft shelled they usually will eat them. Hopefully the soft shelled thing will stop soon as they mature a bit.

Egg is delicious, if they see raw egg yolk they will gobble it up though I have never had any that will intentionally break regular hard shelled eggs to get at the inside.

 

[Ruthster55]

If eggs break (laid on roost for instance) or are soft shelled they usually will eat them. Hopefully the soft shelled thing will stop soon as they mature a bit.

Egg is delicious, if they see raw egg yolk they will gobble it up though I have never had any that will intentionally break regular hard shelled eggs to get at the inside.

With pullets near point of lay, it’s best to go out to the coop several times a day and collect the eggs and put them in the house to be cooked for either human or animal food. A pullet’s first eggs are no good for the incubator or for broody hens.

If you go to the coop often, you have a chance to catch and collect a soft-shelled egg or a very small egg before any hens get into trouble.

 

[aart]

I put them in a large tractor every day

How big is this tractor?
Dimensions and pics would help here.
They might be stressed out and/or bored if crowded.
Where do they sleep at night?

Oh, and..... Welcome to BYC! @suzfine
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[suzfine]

My tractor is 6'x2' for the 3 chickens. At night they sleep in a coop with a run below it. I've tried golf balls too, they've been in the nesting boxes since the beginning.

 

[aart]

My tractor is 6'x2' for the 3 chickens. At night they sleep in a coop with a run below it. I've

I assume that tractor is separate from the coop/run combo?
There are nests in the tractor?
Got some pics?
2x6 is tight quarters for even just 3 birds all day long.

 

[RainbowHen]

I had a bad egg eater once. She was breaking the eggs and teaching others to do it. After trying everything I culled her. Hopefully since these are young birds once the shells harden up they'll leave them alone. Hard habit to break.

 

[suzfine]

This is their tractor that we move around 6' x2.5'. We got one soft (and cracked egg) and 1 hard one today that we caught at the moment it was being laid.

 

[aart]

This is their tractor that we move around 6' x2.5'.

But even smaller because nest takes up some space.

There are nests in the tractor?
Got some pics?
2x6 is tight quarters for even just 3 birds all day long.