Questions about chickens that eat their own eggs!

[jazzblossom]

I highly recommend not feeding your chickens eggs very often and for sure not daily.

@EggSighted4Life Are you online tonight?

Ok, thank you!

 

[jazzblossom]

Never too much eggs ... I give them away, some sell the extras.

1. I don't allow my chickens to eat their eggs. It's been said they're looking for the extra protein (feather eating) ... I feed Flock Raiser (20%) with Oyster Shells on the side, used to feed layer (16%) but prefer the results I get with FR.

2. No clue how many eggs a day.

3. Habitual egg eaters waste of feed. Break the habit or freezer camp.

Thanks!

 

[Kiki]

Ok, thank you!

Can you buy a commercially made crumble or pelleted chicken feed?
If so this type of feed should be what they eat every single day. It's formulated as a complete whole balanced diet.

 

[jazzblossom]

Can you buy a commercially made crumble or pelleted chicken feed?
If so this type of feed should be what they eat every single day. It's formulated as a complete whole balanced diet.

Yes, I can. Thanks!

 

[Kiki]

Yes, I can. Thanks!

Fantastic! If you feed them only this they shouldn't have any deficiencies.
You run into having deficiencies when you start feeding too many treats.

 

[Meri Maura]

I always feed them peeled, hard-boiled eggs at a maximum rate of 20-30 eggs per day per 70 chickens. @Kiki sorry for the angry face (there's no thumbs-down option for some reason)

 

[Kiki]

I always feed them peeled, hard-boiled eggs at a maximum rate of 20-30 eggs per day per 70 chickens. @Kiki sorry for the angry face (there's no thumbs-down option for some reason)

How old are your chickens?

 

[jazzblossom]

I always feed them peeled, hard-boiled eggs at a maximum rate of 20-30 eggs per day per 70 chickens. @Kiki sorry for the angry face (there's no thumbs-down option for some reason)

Interesting, thanks!

 

[jazzblossom]

Fantastic! If you feed them only this they shouldn't have any deficiencies.
You run into having deficiencies when you start feeding too many treats.

Ok, thanks for the info!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

1) First I'm curious to know if anyone here allows their chickens to eat their own eggs since I've read that chickens need to eat their eggs for necessary nutrients.

Hi there and welcome to BYC!

I do feed eggs on occasion as a treat or quick pick up for an other wise failing bird.. highly palatable and easily digested.. Eggs are 34% protein and 64% fat by energy count aka calorie not volume.. with half the protein and good amount of the micro nutrients being found inside the yolk. Quite the opposite.. if a hen is deficient in something, her eggs may be as well.. and feeding them might not be helpful. This is proven in my personal flock via hatch analysis.

2) I'm also wondering if any nutritionist here know how many eggs chickens should eat in a day? Or anything regarding this subject.

I'm not an expert or an avian nutritionist. I'm just an avid poultry fancier, keeper, and breeder/hatcher who has spent WAY too much time researching this subject.

Chickens who eats a high energy not balanced diet will be more likely to suffer conditions including fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome and even sudden death, than birds fed a balanced ration without EXCESS treats.

3) Another question I have is about chickens that got into the habit of eating their own eggs. Do they eat all their eggs right away or do usually leave some behind?

This usually starts as a happy accident caused by a new layer hiccup or weak shell from an egg that got broke.. Keeping fake wooden or ceramic eggs or even a golf ball in the nest is helpful to detour any curiosity peck without offering reward. It has never YET become a long term issue for me.. I will cull for it.. so if I notice it happening, I usually take measures to detour the behavior like visiting the coop extra and shewing away anyone who doesn't appear to be getting ready to lay and collecting eggs more often while discerning WHO the offender is... paying attention to all clues, including rodent activity.. Many animals steal whole eggs.. raccoon, opossum, rat, crow, snake, even my personal dogs! I've seen both.. all the eggs eaten and some evidence left behind.. often weird yuck on a neighboring egg or in the bottom of the nest.

Habitual egg eating in the lay box is NOT a common or acceptable issue.. it would literally mean the death of the bloodline/species.. and it's in their nature to spread their seed to propagate so it literally goes against their nature. Morally speaking though I have zero issue feeding them eggs or chicken. I do so on occasion.. either scrambled or boiled and take out whole boiled egg and put it under my shoe and step.. I do feed back my blank hatching eggs to the chickens and dogs. I also feed back ALL of my egg shells, after set aside to dry then LIGHTLY crushed tossed onto or next to the free choice oyster shell, it's always used first. I repeat, I have NOT yet experienced a habitual egg eater through out a couple hundred birds.

Boredom from being locked in and easily seeing eggs sitting in the nest can invite trouble. Curtains that block direct line of sight can help.

The ones who are habitual egg eaters.. will eat any egg they have access too and even wait for another layer to come out of the box! They will even teach others their awful habit, and ruin an entire flock!

If breaking the habit wasn't doable and culling by re-homing with disclosure or harvesting wan't an option then I would certainly invest in roll away type nest, either pre-built or DIY!

I also feed flock raiser and I keep dual purpose birds. A dozen eggs costs me about at least $3 dozen to produce once they reach laying age. Hatching eggs sell for $65+/dozen.. That's not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, So perfectly good eggs quite simply are not a viable animal feed option for me.. The occasional droppings board egg or any soiled in the nest, or accidentally dropped during collection usually get fed back to the animals.. BUT definitely NOT on a regular basis.

Hope you're actually asking about snacking and not habitual but either way hopefully this helps add to the discussion here and that you many wonderful adventures!