Friend fed 3 month old hens a dozen whole raw eggs

[Gerbil]

Hello, not 100% sure this is the right place to ask this, but a friend of mine came over while I was out and gave my pullets a dozen raw eggs. She had heard me talk about feeding my chicks egg sometimes (scrambled fully cooked) and thought it would be fine. She said she cracked a bunch and showed them how and then they started eating them themselves. I'm literally dying on the inside. I love these pullets but I got them to lay eggs not to eat them. Anyone have a similar situation, is there any chance a one time encounter won't affect them? They aren't laying yet themselves. Should I just go ahead and get ceramic eggs? I haven't even opened the nesting boxes yet.

 

[nuthatched]

Order ceramic eggs and blow out and fill eggs with orange dish soap and let them find them
Your friend is a doofus.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Hahaha wth!? What would possess someone to do this? I have dropped eggs for the dog and the hens have gotten them first and it didn’t turn them into egg eaters if that helps you feel better.

 

[Gerbil]

Order ceramic eggs and blow out and fill eggs with orange dish soap and let them find them
Your friend is a doofus.

I'm going to try both and just set them in the coop. I truly have no idea what went through her brain to come up with feeding them raw eggs. She's always checked first before bringing them snacks, and technically did this time as well but only mentioned bringing them a melon rind.

 

[Gerbil]

Hahaha wth!? What would possess someone to do this? I have dropped eggs for the dog and the hens have gotten them first and it didn’t turn them into egg eaters if that helps you feel better.

That does help actually, I was really hoping one instance may not make them into egg eaters. Gives me a little hope lol And I literally have no idea. As she was explaining how she helped them crack the eggs I nearly had an aneurysm. Suffice it to say, there will be no more solo treat bringing. I'm so upset, she was trying to be helpful as I've been working long hours, but omg.

 

[kattabelly]

I've known plenty of hens who'd eat an egg if it got broken accidentally or fed to them on purpose. Some that would pick a fight with pigs if questionable eggs from a hidden nest were on the menu. Very few, if any of them (none that I can actually remember) ever ate unbroken eggs from a nest box or anywhere else they'd decided to lay.

I gave mine a raw egg as a treat sometimes

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I feed raw eggs to mine a ton, amd very rarely in the 10+ years have I had a bird decide to open eggs on her own. Actually I think just one hen

 

[Shadrach]

Similar story here. I've fed hens raw eggs and I'm quite certain over the years many others have eaten breakages in the nests. Never had a hen that deliberately broke eggs to eat them. It's rather self defeating in evolutionary terms. Supposed to eat other species eggs, not your own.

 

[Gerbil]

I feed raw eggs to mine a ton, amd very rarely in the 10+ years have I had a bird decide to open eggs on her own. Actually I think just one hen

Oh wow, well I guess that's good to hear. When I was growing up we had a hen that turned egg eater and she was voracious. Nothing stopped her and the other hens started to join in, we ended up having to *re-home* 3 hens by the end to stop the egg eating

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I think usually egg eating is more a matter of nutritional deficiency than a habit or matter of taste.