Egg Eating Chickens

[thornberryvillage]

If I feed broken eggs back to my free range flock will it turn them into chickens that intentionally break and eat eggs?

Bob

 

[Wynette]

Nope! But you want to make sure to crush them into VERY small bits first. I nuke mine for about 10 seconds first, then put them in a ziploc bag until it's full or close, then zip it shut & rollerpin them to small pieces. It's excellent for layers - even better than oyster shell!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Nah, I feed mine crushed egg shell for extra calcium. I get a bunch of them when I make breakfast on the weekends and for the week, put them all in a big pan, turn the oven on preheat, when it beeps, I shut the oven off and just leave them there until it cools. Then I just crush them and put them in a pan in the coop. They eat what they want.

PS I don't think I would give them ones that were not cooked in some way for the fear that there may be some yolk on them and they go crazy for yolks

 

[thornberryvillage]

I was talking about tossing the broken ones on the ground for them as I gather the eggs. Will that turn them into intentional egg breaker/eaters?

Bob

 

[Mrs.Busybody]

I throw a few eggs to the hens every now and again & they don't touch any of their eggs otherwise.

They do LOVE them!

I don't cook them or anything. I just throw them down and make sure they break open. They go NUTS!

Jennifer

 

[GoodEgg]

Mine will sometimes have a broken egg in the coop, and they always eat it.

I know some chickens do intentionally eat their eggs. For that reason, I never feed mine raw eggs. I do save eggshells and bake and crush them and feed it to them, and I scramble or boil extra eggs for them too. But if there is a raw egg, I throw it away or put it on the dog's food if I can.

I don't know if anyone else will agree, but I wouldn't want to give them raw broken eggs to eat, because I think they might start doing it on purpose. I understand that's a very hard habit to break, and I just don't want to take the chance.

trish

 

[Myst4]

Quote:
When I collect eggs and notice any broken or cracked eggs...I just throw them to the chickens(outside on the ground mainly,sometimes in the coop of the eggs is really messy). They go bolistic....it's funny to watch. But it isn't often that I do that. They don't eat any of their eggs unless one gets broken in the nest.

 

[me&thegals]

I think I may have accidentally turned some of my chickens into egg eaters by doing exactly that. Now, when I drop one, the whole flock is at my side in 1.2 seconds! I do sometimes find whole, intact eggs on the floor, but I also find evidence of egg eating in their nests. I have one barred rock that pecks at the eggs in my egg basket, so I'm suspicious. These days, if I drop one and it breaks, I immediately mash it into their deep bedding so that it's not visually recognizable as an egg...

 

[Tutter]

It's easy to avoid them getting into the bad habit of egg eating in the coop. Just toast the shells a little first, then crush them with a rolling pin some.

 

[treeclimber233]

I have a hen that will eat (intentionally break and eat) other chickens egg. But when I put her in a pen away from the other chickens she will not eat her own eggs. How strange is that??