chickens eating eggs

[blueheaven]

i have a problem!!!
i have been gathering the eggs every day; however, i think they are eating the eggs! i found 3 eggs today (only 5 hens are laying) the shells crushed and insides eaten.
they have light on in the coop for a few hours in the morning. wondering if they are getting restless and eating them then.
i found one in the nest box, one in the run and on the floor of the coop.

wondering if it could be something else. normally there are no eggs outside the coop.

ps...they just starting laying again...and now this!

 

[dkosh]

Mine eat a couple a day. Usually if the egg has a soft shell or gets a crack in it. Then they go after it. If I notice they are breaking the eggs on purpose I have resorted to sabotage to discourage them. I will take an egg. Blow out the egg and refill the egg with hot sauce. I then replace the egg in the nest box and wait for them to go after it. Woooweeee they don't like that and they rub their beaks on the ground. That ususally stops them for a good while from breaking and eating the eggs. Good luck!

 

[blueheaven]

good idea! i might have to try that.
i was so excited they started laying again and now they are laying then eating them! grrrrr

 

[EELover]

My father-in-law used to have chickens that would eat their eggs so he made nesting boxes with a ramp that once the egg would get laid it would roll down the ramp onto a pillow in a secured box.

 

[Judy]

Yes, there are plans on here for rollaway nest boxes. Not sure why the hot sauce in the egg would bother them as they have no receptors for capsaicin. Maybe they don't like the taste of the pepper itself, or maybe it's just not what they expected.

 

[dkosh]

I think the hot sauce splashes when they peck into the egg and either gets in their eyes or nostrils which probably makes them rub their faces on the ground.