Chickens Eating their Eggs

[CONTONHOOTCH]

Is there a reason why a hen will eat the other chickens eggs? Is there a remedy for this? My husband & I work everyday, so our girls are penned up everyday and we gather their eggs at 5:00 pm every evening and at least 2-3 times a week we find broken and eaten eggs. Is there something we can do about this since we do not know which one of the hens is doing it? We have tried a remedy of putting yellow mustard in 1/2 gold balls in their nests and it stopped for about a month and it is getting alot worse now. Can anyone give me a suggestion?

 

[Mahonri]

You need to find out which one (or ones) are doing it and cull them. The only other remedy is to get nest boxes where the eggs will roll to the back of the nest where the hens can't get at them.

 

[neferset]

Do they get enough oyster shell in their diet? A friend of mine had this problem and she solved it by upping their calcium. I guess her hens were eating eggs like little vitamin pills.

 

[feathersnuggles]

Are the shells hard? If shells are thin or weak, a hen will easily peck the shell and it will break. Once it breaks or cracks, you can't stop them from smelling (and eating) all that gooey warm stuff inside. A farmer once told me that a hen will lay an egg, then she'll tap it with her beak to test the shell's strength. If the shell breaks, it was too thin or weak and would not have sustained a developing embryo. He said she's just improving her odds for healthy chicks.

For strong shells, make sure your chickens have access to oyster shell, in addition to their regular feed. And add ACV to their water (plastic waterer, not metal) to help with their calcium uptake. 1 Tablespoon per gallon, on the ACV.

 

[mypicklebird]

keeping in mind that there are probably one or two that are egg breakers, and ALL will eat the eggs. Finding yolk or egg shell stuck on someone's beak does not automatically mean she is the culprit. How many do you have? Can you each week- separate one girl out and see who leaves her eggs alone? If a hen is not laying- you can give her a few eggs, and see if she leaves them alone. In the mess- are there any bits of shell left behind? If so- is the shell normal? A thin shelled egg will often break AS it is laid, which then will get eaten- which is normal. If you have thin shelled eggs- they likely need more calcium in their diet (if you have free choice oyster shell out and they have access to layer feed at all times- this is less likely). What do they eat? Sometimes a hen does not like the oyster shell- if you can figure out who it is who has thin eggs (if this is the problem), then you can supplement her more directly...



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