Cracked eggs?!

[Aye_It's_Liv]

So my babies have just started laying and I came back yesterday to find that one of them had been cracked open with the yolk so I threw it into my garden but when my chickens were free ranging they found it and they started eating it, should I do something to stop them from eating their own eggs or is it not a big deal?

I buried the rest of the yolk in the dirt. lol.

 

[Cyprus]

If you're concerned about egg eating you could build roll-away nest boxes.
These prevent egg eating and keep eggs cleaner.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is not a big deal unless one opened the egg on purpose to eat it. Do you know why it was cracked? Could be many reasons.

Most chickens will eat an egg that is opened for them, that is totally normal. An egg eater is one that has learned to open an egg to eat it, that is bad. It is always possible a chicken could learn to open an egg to eat it if they eat a cracked egg but that is pretty rare. From what you have posted I would not be concerned.

 

[Birdsong 82]

My hens will go nuts over a broken egg but have never broke one open on their own. I have a hen that occasionally drops an egg sometime over night while roosting. When the find broken on ground in the morning definitely a treat. First time I saw them do it I had the same concern though