Hens eating eggs

[Swhite2415]

We are relatively new to this backyard flock thing (and loving it so far!), so most of our hens are young. We have 3 older hens (two 3 yrs and one 1.5yr) two of which have been laying eggs for us.

Our younger hens just this week reached laying age(they are in a separate coop than the other two) and began laying three days ago. I managed to snag one egg, the second was stepped on and the third they broke and ate!! I know once they get the "taste" it's hard to break them of the habit but any advice?? I'd rather not lose all my eggs to them! Do they need more calcium? They broke it, left the yolk intact and took the shells.

We do have a very large coop with quite a few birds..could they be feeling cramped?? They also scrape out the nesting boxes every day. Is it because they are still so young and new to this??

Thanks!!

 

[21hens-incharge]

How big is the coop in feet by feet?
How many birds?
How many nests?
Are the nests bright inside or dark? A picture really helps.


The nest material scraping is normal for young birds to do.

Have you seen "roll away" nests?

 

[Swhite2415]

I havent seen those before but my father in law was actually talking about somehow tilting the boxes so the eggs roll away and cant be kicked out, but that is a great idea!!

Our coop is just about 100sqft and we have 9 hens, and two roosters and a month old chick. We are separating some of them but we are still in the process of building another coop.

There are 5 nesting boxes and another side where we are building 5 more nesting boxes but thats still under construction.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Your coop and number of boxes are good. I don't think you even need the additional ones.

I keep 22 hens with 6 boxes without issues.

Maybe the eaten ones had thin shells or cracked slightly when they laid them.

 

[Swhite2415]

Will it continuously be a problem? Now that they've eaten some?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Will it continuously be a problem? Now that they've eaten some?

That one is hard to answer. A lot depends on the individual bird.

I have a giant cochin that goes straight in after the other lays to eat her egg. The egg getting eaten is from a hen that has always had thinner shells. Those are the only eggs getting consumed and the only hen that does it.

I am battling it here myself. Nothing I have done has improved her shells.
I will likely process the offender. She is not a nice hen anyway......always pecking the babies, harassing the bantam mommy, and generally causing upset in the flock.

 

[adickenscoop]

Every now and then a hen will discover they can do this and it is difficult to stop them from doing it. The best thing to do is to try to collect the eggs quickly.