Feeding egg shells resulted in chickens eating eggs

[Brown Chick]

Is there any predators sometimes chicken can break there eggs if there are?

I have a tight coop but there are hawks that fly over the yard. We have a shade sail that blocks them from view for the most part. But I will keep an eye out for anything that could be scaring them. Thanks fir the reply.

 

[Brown Chick]

This is great advice!

The only thing I want to add is that egg-eating is a natural instinct. An egg laid out of a nest is a tempting morsel for a predator or a scavenger. Likewise a broken egg can attract predators or scavengers. A hen cannot just pick up an egg and take it back to the nest, so she breaks it and eats it, removing the temptation and protecting her flock and future chicks.

You will also want to check your pens to see if your hens are feeling unsafe. Hens will "deprive" a predator or scavenger of food (eggs) if they see them coming around regularly. You can help them by picking eggs and giving their pen some reinforcement.

Once you rule out the other causes, then you will be able to tell whether your flock has a real problem with egg eating.

Thank you I will keep a look out for that.

Add oyster shells in addition to egg shells. Chickens need to have more calcium going in than what comes out. She may still be lacking calcium. Did you have another sourse of calcium before the egg shells? Also with the egg on the ground the chances of it having been cracked are high.

thank you! I will be heading to the feed store this weekend.

 

[Brown Chick]

Thank you all for the advice! I have been busy all day trying all of these tips. Lol! Never a dull moment with the flock!

 

[NatJ]

I blew out some eggs and tried cayenne flakes run through a blender. They liked that but then I did soap eggs and they did NOT eat those!

Capsaicin (the hot in peppers) only burns the tongues of mammals, not birds.

So chickens can eat cayenne just as easily as people can eat a bell pepper.

Clever idea, using soap!

A friend of mine once had some very determined egg-eating hens.
The hens were given an egg-shaped rock, and my friend says you could hear them pecking at that rock for hours on end, for I don't know how many days, before they finally gave up! But they did eventually quit breaking eggs.

 

[Brown Chick]

Well I thought I would fill you in on my adventures with the egg eater. I moved a camera into the nest area today and set a motion alert for the nest boxes. I watched the hens lay eggs then went out and put a tie wrap on the leg of each chicken that layed. I collected the eggs immediately after. One EE sat in the nest but I did not find an egg. One of the Delaware hens that got a tie wrap In the morning went back into the nests 7 times and hopped in every nest each time to scratch through all of the hay. Another copper Maran hen went back after laying 3 different times. These two are on the possible cull list. Two Delaware hens did not lay but one went into the nest with no egg produced.

 

[Newyorkrita]

I hope you find the egg eater.

 

[Cryss]

Well I thought I would fill you in on my adventures with the egg eater. I moved a camera into the nest area today and set a motion alert for the nest boxes. I watched the hens lay eggs then went out and put a tie wrap on the leg of each chicken that layed. I collected the eggs immediately after. One EE sat in the nest but I did not find an egg. One of the Delaware hens that got a tie wrap In the morning went back into the nests 7 times and hopped in every nest each time to scratch through all of the hay. Another copper Maran hen went back after laying 3 different times. These two are on the possible cull list. Two Delaware hens did not lay but one went into the nest with no egg produced.

I need a camera!!
Couple questions. You didn’t say whether there was an egg eaten. Then you mention the Delaware and the Marans being on the cull list. Is this because you actually did find an eaten egg and think they might be the culprits or was there a previously determined reason?
Also I don’t know what you meant by saying the Marans laid 3 times? Is this video a 3 day long video?

 

[Brown Chick]

I need a camera!!
Couple questions. You didn’t say whether there was an egg eaten. Then you mention the Delaware and the Marans being on the cull list. Is this because you actually did find an eaten egg and think they might be the culprits or was there a previously determined reason?
Also I don’t know what you meant by saying the Marans laid 3 times? Is this video a 3 day long video?

So I am basing the cull list on this: once the chicken laid an egg it would not need to go back into the nest for the day. So the chickens that went back to the nest multiple times were looking for eggs to eat. Yes someone was eating the eggs because when I use the camera I can hear when eggs are laid because of the song. So if I go out and get those right away I get 10 a day. If I gather once I get 6 a day.

 

[Brown Chick]

So I am basing the cull list on this: once the chicken laid an egg it would not need to go back into the nest for the day. So the chickens that went back to the nest multiple times were looking for eggs to eat. Yes someone was eating the eggs because when I use the camera I can hear when eggs are laid because of the song. So if I go out and get those right away I get 10 a day. If I gather once I get 6 a day.

But I am finding no shells and have no other proof.

 

[Cryss]

So I am basing the cull list on this: once the chicken laid an egg it would not need to go back into the nest for the day. So the chickens that went back to the nest multiple times were looking for eggs to eat. Yes someone was eating the eggs because when I use the camera I can hear when eggs are laid because of the song. So if I go out and get those right away I get 10 a day. If I gather once I get 6 a day.

Chickens often go back inside a nest after laying their egg. They normally aren’t looking to eat the eggs just because they go back. Sometimes it’s because they’re thinking about going brewery. Sometimes it’s because they’re just curious. Sometimes it’s for no reason at all except if they’re bored. As for one day you get 10 a day and another day you get six a day that does not under any circumstances mean that you have someone eating eggs. Different breeds lay different amounts of eggs in a years time. They don’t all play every day. I have some delay every other day I have some that like three days in a row and then take a day off I have some delay every day except one. No one is eating those missing eggs because they’re not missing they just don’t call me the same time. Even chickens of the same breed are individuals. They each will lay at their own individual rate. They will definitely each lay a maximum of one egg per Chicken per day but they don’t necessarily have to lay any at all on a day. I would hate to see you call a perfectly good laying hen just because they went back into a nest. If you aren’t finding broken bits of shell and droplets of egg white and yolk or yellow yolk dripping from a beak or dried onto a beak there’s really no evidence of egg eating. I admit I didn’t read every single post here in this thread so maybe I missed where are you have said that you found this physical evidence.A hen going in and out of a nest and the lack of a egg from every hand every single day or not evidence of egg eating. They are not physical evidence.