My chicken is eating it's own egg

[Rockythgr81]

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/185427326/6-wooden-nest-eggs-to-encourage-chickens

These have always worked well for me.

I use these wooden eggs too, got them at Hobby Lobby. They are VERY realistic and am not entirely sure that the chickens don't know they aren't real. I put them in the nest boxes before they are due to start laying and it has worked so far on the hens I got last year. I presume, by putting them in the nest boxes prior to their first laying that they pecked at them and gave up when they found that it didn't do anything. What I am getting at is, it basically trained them. And I just keep them in the nests, because I see no harm in leaving them there. They are so realistic in fact that I have gone to collect eggs and had to go back to the coop to return the wooden egg.

 

[haleybraden24]

Hello, my chickens did this too. I fed them more each day and they eventually stopped. I mixed in a little oyster shells in they're food too.

 

[RisingSun]

One of my girls has been laying super soft eggs for a while, despite the abundance of oyster shells they all get. Every once in a while she will lay an egg that can be used, but for a couple of months now, they are so soft that they break in the nest. Of course, this has lead to egg eating. Any ideas?

 

[Irishhenman]

One of my girls has been laying super soft eggs for a while, despite the abundance of oyster shells they all get.  Every once in a while she will lay an egg that can be used, but for a couple of months now, they are so soft that they break in the nest.  Of course, this has lead to egg eating.  Any ideas?

She might have a defective shell gland, and nothing can be done about that

 

[RisingSun]

Is it possible that she may have gotten an injury that caused this? Or perhaps an infection?
Thanks Irishhenman!

 

[RisingSun]

How can I keep the newbies (hatched in April) from sleeping in the nesting boxes?

 

[brownduck]

This is unfortunately a natural occurrence, even if a bad habit.
if you are hatching find a broody hen. She will protect it. or check up on their diet.
Are they getting green grass? I suggest picking up eggs twice a day, it may help your losses.
At worst, trade her in.

 

[adrianis666]

Its only bad if you want to eat the eggs yourself.

If your chicken eats eggs it will not make them sick.

Chickens need calcium in their diet to make hard egg shells. Check to see what kind of food you should feed them. If your chickens are pets, they have balanced feed for chicken, just like a dog or a cat.

You can let them eat their own eggs. It puts the calcium back into their system.

That's what I read anyways.

 

[subhanalah]

Its only bad if you want to eat the eggs yourself. 

If your chicken eats eggs it will not make them sick.

Chickens need calcium in their diet to make hard egg shells. Check to see what kind of food you should feed them.  If your chickens are pets, they have balanced feed for chicken, just like a dog or a cat.

You can let them eat their own eggs. It puts the calcium back into their system.

That's what I read anyways. 

Welcome to BYC! Hope you can make yourself at home here.
I hate to do this, but my first post to you will be in disagreement.


from my experience, it typically indicates a nutritional deficiency, not simply calcium. They generally don't eat the shell as well as the inside (but that does happen too).

It is normally a protein/vitamin thing from my observations and if your birds are deficient then they are not healthy.

I do not believe the statement "its only bad if you want to eat the eggs yourself" is an accurate one.

 

[haleybraden24]

hello again, i just wanna say my chickens eat everything the whole entire egg. not just one part. and for my rhode island reds and white leghorns it was just a phase. every time i would try and wash the eggs of they would break. they stopped doing it after a while like a few weeks. so good luck.