Found the girls eating an egg thismorning!

vjbakke

Songster
8 Years
Mar 21, 2011
529
1
129
MN
My husband went to let the girls out thismorning and said they were eating an egg on the coop floor! The only other time they have done this is form a chicken we used to have the laid eggs on the coop floor and they would get broken or were soft shelled. They are 10 months old. Will this become a bad habit now? I'll have to keep an eye on how many eggs we're getting. Egg eaters are not welcome in our coop! lol
 
I haven't had the problem...however, I do remember someone on here having this issue and they put in artificial eggs for a while. When the girls learned that pecking would get them nowhere, they lost interest. I thought it was worth a try!
 
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Just from one time does not mean you will have a problem. Eggs laid in the run or path that is used do tend to have more mishaps. Making sure your chickens are getting a good diet and have access to plenty of water. Thirsty hens will bust a egg, and hens that need extra calcium(they will only eat the shell), and some need other nutrients. I would not freak out over just one egg. Some hens are just egg eaters, but this should be rare if all their basic needs are met.
 
Ok thanks, they have water and a good diet, their shells are nice a hard. So I don't think there was a problem there.We were thinking that one got impatient when the favorite nest box was full and laid on on the coop floor.
 
I havent had that issue but I actually give them all the cracked shells after I eat them. I heard somewhere awhile back that its good and I can understand why...there are certain nutrients they can get from the shells. Theya lways eat them but dont touch whole eggs.
 
I've found it works well to dry the shells out in the oven first. We just save them up in an old ice cream bucket, and when it's full I spread them out on a cookie sheet lined with foil, then put them in the oven until the albumin starts to turn brown. It's much easier to crush them up after that. Just don't stack the shells together or some of them in the middle may not get very dry.
 

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