hen(s) eating egg

[Heihei4]

Help! I have 4 hens and 1 or multiple have broken and eaten an egg..
Yesterday and today it happened... but they are not breaking all of them just 1... how do I stop this!?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Many times egg eating is a happy accident caused by a fragile egg that broke.

Sounds like that could be a possibility for yours since they aren't eating the other eggs.

I always keep fake eggs in my nests. It helps to deter any curiosity pecks from wayward hens. It probably doesn't feel that good and there is NO reward.

While trying to ensure no bad habits are being reinforced, I make sure to collect eggs as often as possible throughout the day.

Good luck!

 

[FlyWheel]

Roll away nest boxes are also a good idea if you cannot get out to collect frequently. Only trouble I ever had with them was getting the hens to use them (Damn spoiled stuck up birds!).

 

[rebrascora]

My guess would also be that you have a bird laying a weak shelled egg and it is getting broken as it is laid or when stepped on by other birds. It is then fair game to be eaten in my opinion. I have had this happen before and once you identify the bird with the shell quality problem, you can either remove from the flock or try to supplement her calcium intake for a while with a human calcium with vit D tablet crumbled on a favourite treat each day for a week and see if her shell quality improves. Calcium deficiency can be caused by feeding too many treats like scratch or corn or even green veg like spinach and kale which can inhibit the uptake of calcium and lead to weak egg shells in some birds or it can be a shell gland problem. Do you already provide oyster shells free choice? What do you feed your flock? Some whole grain feeds can lead to a calcium deficiency depending upon how you feed them.

 

[aart]

Roll away nest boxes are also a good idea if you cannot get out to collect frequently. Only trouble I ever had with them was getting the hens to use them (Damn spoiled stuck up birds!).

Can be tricky...gotta outsmart them