Hens breaking eggs?

[Crazyabouthens]

Recently I have noticed that I’m missing a few eggs a day. In the nest boxes there are a few broken eggs, or egg shells and the straw is damp and yucky. I know that it’s the chickens that are doing it. I’m missing 1-4 eggs a day. How do I stop them? It’s not just that but the coop is getting really stinky because of it and the nest boxes are getting really dirty. Please if someone could leave some suggestions that would be great

 

[nuthatched]

If you think the hens are eating the eggs, blow out a few eggs and fill them with yellow dish soap, the chickens will take one nibble and leave it alone. It could also be crows/ravens/jays etc, snakes or other critters.

 

[WonkierZulu]

Fake eggs work too. Give at Crack at that you greedy mamas

 

[EEforMe]

I have an older hen who’s eggshells must be pretty thin because I find her eggs cracked very often but not ever are they eaten. In my experience if the eggshells are mostly intact with a quarter sized hole than they were eaten and if it’s just a patty of egg, eggshell, and bedding than it might be an accident. I mean why would they beak open an egg and then just smoosh it into their bedding?

 

[Crazyabouthens]

Oh I never thought of that! Thank you

If you think the hens are eating the eggs, blow out a few eggs and fill them with yellow dish soap, the chickens will take one nibble and leave it alone. It could also be crows/ravens/jays etc, snakes or other critters.

 

[EEforMe]

No thanks needed! I made an account on BYC to help and get help

 

[TheOddOneOut]

My hens are not chronic egg eaters, but if there’s a cracked egg in the nest, they don’t hesitate to…clean it up. I think it might be a natural behavior, so that there wasn’t any broken rotting eggs in nests hens were sitting on. It only becomes a problem when they break them open on purpose to eat them.
Get ceramic eggs, or do the dish soap things. Something to trick them. Also, make sure that:
A: you are supplementing calcium, to ensure strong shells.
B: your nests are properly padded.
C: you collect eggs often.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Chickens do love egg. When I had a batch of young rescue chicks who weren’t very strong, one of their staples was (fresh) liquid yolk. When I couldn’t get them to eat anything else and was genuinely worried about them, I would resort to the purest source of nutrition I could think of. They would jump at the brooder bars when I brought out the saucer and dropper that they knew meant egg! Gah, I miss chicks.

But anyways, when I brought them on field trips, the older girls would come and get some.

 

[EEforMe]

Also I noticed your profile is a black star/sex link. Here’s mine:

 

[Mrs Wick]

I was told that a hen will eat her egg if there is nothing else to eat, or if she is lacking proteins or vitamins, that are only available in her egg.