Eating their own eggs

[jan64]

I went to open my coop this morning to let the chickens out - as I do every morning as soon as it gets light, and in the nest box area I noticed some broken egg shell. I reached in to pick it up as the hens were all making their way outside, one of them turned back around and snatched the piece of egg shell away before I had chance to remove it!! - I did notice that the egg seemed to be a lot smaller in size to what I usually collect from the nest box? My hens are 5 month old Warrens (X3) and began laying about 2 weeks ago, and I've had 2 or 3 good sized eggs a day from them consistently - I'm just wondering if there's any reason for this sudden change in behaviour that I can rectify? - My first thought was hunger.....but that can't be because they've had access to the same amount of food and water as they always have, and I let them out as soon as it gets light outside - so I'm stumped?

 

[sumi]

One of them may have accidentally broken an egg and they discovered that they are nice to eat. If it becomes a problem for you, here are some tips on breaking that habit:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/six-tips-on-breaking-your-egg-eater

The smaller eggs are normal for new layers. Many of mine fluctuated between tiny and huge eggs for a bit before getting the hang of it and laying normal eggs.

 

[chad-o]

Different sized eggs in young hens is normal. No matter how an egg is broken once your girls recognize the eggs as food it's a problem. Once one starts eating the rest will soon follow.Sometimes it's just an accident at other times it's need for calcium. I always have oyster shell available to my girls. Either way it's a habit that's very hard to break. Much has been written here about mustard filled the eggs and other home remedies to break this habit. I believe that most of these are just old wives tales. The best solution I have found is the Solway roll out nest no guesswork works the first time every time.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221421937094?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

 

[Mtn Laurel]

I've had the occasional thin-shelled egg break in the nest and the girls will "clean it up". That seems to be normal behavior for most animals/birds, they clean up their "mess" so as to not attract predators.

You might want to check their diet. If they are needing an increase in either protein or calcium, they have the perfect food available via their own eggs. As the one gal snatched the shell, could they need additional calcium? My gals love when I feed crushed/dried shell back to them and will also eat oyster shell when their system demands it.

Hopefully it won't become a problem. Good luck!