Soft Eggs Being Eaten

[NHchickenflock]

I have some 5-6 month old hens that are just starting to lay. They seem to be laying soft eggs and doing in the middle of the coop. As soon as they lay one all the other hens quickly swarm over and eat them.
They have layed hard eggs and they seem to be left alone.
Is this normal or is it a start to bad habits for the ones eating the eggs?
Any advice would be great!

 

[Kelsie2290]

ime it is normal for the hens to eat soft eggs if they find them, I don't find that it leads to them eating regular shelled eggs... do take care to prevent that anyhow, fake eggs in nest, collect a lot, keep nests dark etc.
I don't like them eating the soft eggs, but not sure what you can do about it... the one other thing I do keep an eye on with that is that if you have a soft egg break inside a bird it can cause problems, and if a piece is hanging out it may lead to vent picking... usually a bird that has a soft egg half out will act funny though standing around strangely etc.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Most of the time, when my chickens lay soft shelled eggs, they eat them. But, they've never eaten or broken any hard shelled eggs. I haven't found their consumption of soft shelled eggs to lead to egg eating.

 

[islandgirl82]

Same here. The soft shelled eggs were eaten but no one has bothered with them once they began being formed properly. There was a curiosity about the hard shelled eggs from my girls who were close to starting though; they would just roll them around if another pullet laid one in the run. Wooden eggs in the nests helped them sort out where to lay too.

 

[aart]

ime it is normal for the hens to eat soft eggs if they find them, I don't find that it leads to them eating regular shelled eggs... do take care to prevent that anyhow, fake eggs in nest, collect a lot, keep nests dark etc.
I don't like them eating the soft eggs, but not sure what you can do about it... the one other thing I do keep an eye on with that is that if you have a soft egg break inside a bird it can cause problems, and if a piece is hanging out it may lead to vent picking... usually a bird that has a soft egg half out will act funny though standing around strangely etc.

glad to read this...saw this happen yesterday with a newer layer who has been laying some soft shells.. and found a partial softshell on the floor later near where she was...am keeping an eye on her, she seems more active today and was in the nest first thing this morning, hoping to find a whole solid egg there soon.