Hen eating egg

[Mammymo]

One of my 12 hens is eating an egg every day. Not the shell, the egg. I bought roll away nesting boxes, filled empty shell with mustard (she ate it) she’s getting plenty of calcium & vitamins. Any suggestions to get her to stop?

 

[Tonyroo]

Isolating her or rehome her. Egg eating is very hard to break.

Additional problems can occur if the other hens see her eating it then your whole flock snowballs down the egg eating habit.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

What percent protein is her feed?

 

[aart]

I bought roll away nesting boxes

@Mammymo these were not effective?

 

[Mammymo]

No, I catch her sticking her beak under the bar at the bottom to break the egg open . She eats only the egg, not the shell

 

[Mammymo]

What percent protein is her feed?

16% plus Layer Boost with omega 3 supplement in water and free feed oyster shells

 

[aart]

No, I catch her sticking her beak under the bar at the bottom to break the egg open . She eats only the egg, not the shell

Can you put a soft cloth curtain that the egg can roll thru?
That may keep her from seeing the egg in there.

 

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

Ugh, I am sorry for you! I understand how you feel.

Ours were eating eggs a while back too. What I did was filled some emptied egg shells with dish soap and mustard, plus added fake eggs, and collected the real eggs as often as I could. That way they discovered that eating the eggs would either be a gross surprise, or nothing would happen at all. After a few weeks of that, they stopped eating eggs. So you could try that.

BUT, with that said, there are a few factors to consider. For one, they could be eating eggs out of boredom or overcrowding. How big is your coop and run? What kinds of things do they have for enrichment?

It could also be something wrong with their diet. What feed are they on? How many “treats” do they get? Do they have extra calcium (preferably oyster shells) in their diet?

Could it be posible that a rat or weasel of some sort or other small creature is eating the eggs?

There are more things to consider, but we will start with these.

 

[ChickNanny13]

16% plus Layer Boost with omega 3 supplement in water and free feed oyster shells

Try increasing her protein ...
https://www.dineachook.com.au/blog/how-much-protein-do-chickens-need/
https://www.homesteadingwhereyouare.com/2021/05/31/protein-sources-for-chickens/

 

[HollowOfWisps]

16% plus Layer Boost with omega 3 supplement in water and free feed oyster shells

I would definitely recommend increasing protein. I feed raw eggs all of the time to my chickens, but I keep them on a 20% protein feed year round. I have had no egg eating issues besides them eating the ones I crack open for them.