Chickens eating their own eggs?

[AnonPaperclip]

Oh boy, another post.
I just got home from school and made myself something to eat. Outside I saw one of the Welsummers being chased by the other hens while holding something large in her beak. I went out, grabbed her and took the cracked, empty egg that she was holding. I knew it was from a Faverolle (I also noticed two other eggs of the same kind. One was in the nesting box and another was in the run being stepped on) What does it mean when a hen starts to eat her owneggs? Are they not getting enough nutrients?

 

[Arya28]

A lot of the time, it's because they need more calcium. The egg shells and the egg contain calcium that can help them to produce more eggs, and have enough for their bodies.

So what you can do to ensure they have enough calcium is (1) make sure they are on a layer feed and/or (2) provide a calcium supplement such as baked egg shells or oyster shells. If you are going to bake egg shells, what we do is clean them to make sure they aren't recognizable as an egg, so as to prevent them eating their own eggs. We first clean them in vinegar and hot water, sometimes with soap. Then we mash them up and bake them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, let them cool, and provide them in a bowl as free choice for the hens that want it. If they need the extra calcium, they will eat it, if they don't, they won't.

We had an ISA brown eat an egg, we took the egg out, provided egg shells and it never became a habit. However, some people do have this become a bad habit with their chickens. I never have, but I'm sure you will get lots of great advice on how to break the habit, aside from just providing more calcium.

I hope this helps

 

[cavemanrich]

It means that hen is ready to be processed. Cannibalism ( I know egg eating is different term) is a hard habit to break. The exception may be when the chickens start to only eat eggs that have been accidentally broken. Every so often an egg gets rolled out of a nesting area and cracks open when it meets the deck. My chickens wolf it down like mad. They have never pecked at eggs to break and eat them. I have found eggs broken in nest, but probably due to being stepped on. (not many time BTW.). One idea of mine to stop the process would be to place fake eggs into nests and leave them there. If chickens learn that the eggs do not produce a treat when attempt to break them occurs, maybe they give up on the effort.
WISHING YOU BEST....

 

[Irish89rmf]

I am having a similar issue. I think I have two hens laying. I’m finding usually one egg outside of the nesting box broken. Most times the egg has not been eaten. Not sure what is happening. The drop from the nesting box to the coop floor is only a few inches and they both have pine shavings, so it should be a soft landing.

Bob

 

[cavemanrich]

I am having a similar issue. I think I have two hens laying. I’m finding usually one egg outside of the nesting box broken. Most times the egg has not been eaten. Not sure what is happening. The drop from the nesting box to the coop floor is only a few inches and they both have pine shavings, so it should be a soft landing.

Bob

Not sure of a solution, but here is an IDEA.
The falling out of the egg may be due to your chicken making herself comfortable into the nest. They sort of like to go thru a routine of adjusting the nesting material. In the process , maybe the egg there, gets rolled out. You may want to install/place a small board to keep nesting materials from falling out of nest. That would also keep egg from rolling out. Give it a try...
The other possibility is that egg is being laid from somewhere above nesting box, and gets airtime and lands broken.

 

[Teila]

Hi

I often find eggs at the bottom of the ramp or on the coop floor and I know why.

My gals have fluffy butts and if they linger in the nest box after laying their egg, the egg dries stuck to their feathers and when they hop out of the nest box, the egg goes with them. Most of the time it drops off in the coop or as mentioned, at the bottom of the ramp. However, I have had to bail up a chicken in the garden with her egg still stuck to her fluffy butt while she is scratching in the dirt

 

[aart]

Oh boy, another post.
I just got home from school and made myself something to eat. Outside I saw one of the Welsummers being chased by the other hens while holding something large in her beak. I went out, grabbed her and took the cracked, empty egg that she was holding. I knew it was from a Faverolle (I also noticed two other eggs of the same kind. One was in the nesting box and another was in the run being stepped on) What does it mean when a hen starts to eat her owneggs? Are they not getting enough nutrients?

Could be lack of calcium....or lack of protein, especially animal protein.
What and how exactly are you feeding?
Most likely it's something else tho.

Was the egg shell you nabbed from the bird a thin shell?
New layers can lay soft or thin shelled egg, easily broken, and fair game for eating IMO.
They also can do what's called 'curiosity pecking', which can lead them to find the goodness inside and start a terrible habit. Best to gather as frequently as possible and use fake eggs in the nest.

It can be a real chicken and egg rodeo when new layers first start up, until they get in the habit of laying in the nest and the 'newness' wears off.

 

[Irish89rmf]

They have organic layer feed and access to oyster shells and also free range during the day. They are new layers So maybe that is the issue. Could they be laying from the roosting bar?

 

[cavemanrich]

They have organic layer feed and access to oyster shells and also free range during the day. They are new layers So maybe that is the issue. Could they be laying from the roosting bar?

Most chickens lay their eggs during the day. Most are on a 25 hour cycle. That translates to an egg laid one hour later each day. When it gets to evening and chicken misses her laying opportunity, the egg gets laid next morning. All this would be true if chickens were machines and had atomic clocks running them. In the real world things are slightly different. Many here see their certain chicken lay at about the same time each day. That translates to a 24 hour cycle. There are also those chickens that do not follow the rules of laying only during the day. They are sitting on their roost and in the middle of the night the urge to purge an egg occurs. Guess what??? Yes it does happen. These are chickens that are not part of the MOST crowd.
Unless your name is Sherlock Holmes, or you work for Cheaters, and have all sort of spy equipment in place, never know exactly how that egg got broken.

 

[AnonPaperclip]

Could be lack of calcium....or lack of protein, especially animal protein.
What and how exactly are you feeding?
Most likely it's something else tho.

Was the egg shell you nabbed from the bird a thin shell?
New layers can lay soft or thin shelled egg, easily broken, and fair game for eating IMO.
They also can do what's called 'curiosity pecking', which can lead them to find the goodness inside and start a terrible habit. Best to gather as frequently as possible and use fake eggs in the nest.

It can be a real chicken and egg rodeo when new layers first start up, until they get in the habit of laying in the nest and the 'newness' wears off.

They're still on grower feed, but we're going to get layer feed soon.