My hens started eating their own eggs. . . . . . Help

[NU CHICKS]

My younger hens just started laying.

YAH! But today they ate one of my older hens eggs. How do I keep them from doing this? Also one of the hens is a buff brahma, her eggs are tiny . . . Why, she is a pretty big girl. Is it because she is so young? Will her eggs get larger?

 

[gritsar]

I can't offer you much help other than to tell you that yes, the eggs are small to start with and get larger. Also, it's important to collect the eggs asap after they are laid so they don't get in the habit of eating them. It's my understanding that the habit once established is very hard to break.

 

[cjeanean]

You may want to put something in her nest box that looks like an egg but is hard, like a golf ball or porcelain egg. Then, when she pecks it the surface will be hard. TAKE ALL THE EGGS as soon as possible, and hopefully she'll try to peck at the balls or porcelain egg and learn better. Either than, or she'll figure out that all she should peck at are the white things that come out of her butt. It's worth a shot!

 

[cjeanean]

In severe cases de beaking (or culling if you don't want to put your bird through a life without a beak) may be necessary, but you also may want to separate her from the others, cause chicken see chicken do. if the other chickens catch on to her eating the eggs they may follow suit, which is the LAST thing you want! Good luck!!!