Soft shelled egg eaters!

[jherrera59]

We have 18 girls all about 20 weeks old. Most of them are laying and all has been great! BUT!!! This evening one of our girls laid a soft shelled egg. Almost ALL of them ran over there so fast and they all ate it! It was so bizarre! You would have thought I threw their favorite treat in there the way they ran to eat it! I found an egg yesterday that was pecked open and one today that appeared to just be broken in the nest box but the shell seemed rather thin so I figured it got knocked around by one of them while laying. I was hoping the 2 eggs I found were not the result of egg eaters but when they all ran to eat the soft shelled egg I had second thoughts and just hoping it has to do with it being soft? HELP!!!!

 

[feathermaid]

It's possible an egg was accidentally broken and a couple chickens investigated and discovered how delicious they were. Maybe you even had a previous soft-shelled egg that went unnoticed because it was completely devoured. Once they learn to eat eggs it's very difficult to stop.

Are they getting enough calcium and protein? I've found that layer feed isn't really all that special. I now feed Flock Raiser (higher protein content) with oyster shells in a separate container, that way they can regulate how much calcium their bodies actually need and the extra protein works well all year and helps them through molts and cold winters too.

You could also try keeping ceramic eggs in the nest boxes... very discouraging for birds that try to peck them, they may just give up trying. Here's a good thread with other suggestions:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chickens-eating-eggs.1310209/page-6

 

[aart]

We have 18 girls all about 20 weeks old. Most of them are laying and all has been great! BUT!!! This evening one of our girls laid a soft shelled egg. Almost ALL of them ran over there so fast and they all ate it! It was so bizarre! You would have thought I threw their favorite treat in there the way they ran to eat it! I found an egg yesterday that was pecked open and one today that appeared to just be broken in the nest box but the shell seemed rather thin so I figured it got knocked around by one of them while laying. I was hoping the 2 eggs I found were not the result of egg eaters but when they all ran to eat the soft shelled egg I had second thoughts and just hoping it has to do with it being soft? HELP!!!!

Pretty normal for new layers to have some softies.
Also normal, and fair game IMO, to eat those easily broken eggs.
Just try to collect frequently...and, yes...

.....fake eggs and check the diet:

Are they getting enough calcium and protein? I've found that layer feed isn't really all that special. I now feed Flock Raiser (higher protein content) with oyster shells in a separate container, that way they can regulate how much calcium their bodies actually need and the extra protein works well all year and helps them through molts and cold winters too.

You could also try keeping ceramic eggs in the nest boxes... very discouraging for birds that try to peck them, they may just give up trying.

 

[Chickassan]

Chickens like eggs, simple fact.
They can have a perfect diet but if offered an egg they'll devour it.
Soft shelled eggs aren't viable i'm guessing they know and recycle them.
The flock here eats them too, it bothered me at first but i'm not going to eat a softie so no reason they can't.
They never eat normal eggs, only the softies no harm, no foul.

 

[jherrera59]

Thanks all! Well, based on today it doesn’t look like they’re eating any of the hard shelled eggs and if any of them laid or ate any soft shelled eggs I didn’t see. One laid an egg outside by the waterer too and nobody touched it. We do collect about every hour and we’re in and out of the coop all day long and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary today. I just got really worried after I saw them pounce on that just laid soft shelled egg!

We recently switched to an organic feed - DuMOR 16% layer crumble and I thought maybe it was the new feed but it’s got protein and calcium added so I was a little puzzled. We’ve put the oyster shells and some crushed egg shells out for them so hopefully this does the trick. Based on their behavior with the soft shelled egg yesterday I won’t know unless I’m out there!

Thank you for your responses. Happy weekend y’all!

 

[jherrera59]

Chickens like eggs, simple fact.
They can have a perfect diet but if offered an egg they'll devour it.
Soft shelled eggs aren't viable i'm guessing they know and recycle them.
The flock here eats them too, it bothered me at first but i'm not going to eat a softie so no reason they can't.
They never eat normal eggs, only the softies no harm, no foul.

It looks like they’re only eating the soft shelled eggs so I’m hopeful and just giving them oyster and egg shells. I agree- they can have the soft shelled eggs!

 

[jherrera59]

It's possible an egg was accidentally broken and a couple chickens investigated and discovered how delicious they were. Maybe you even had a previous soft-shelled egg that went unnoticed because it was completely devoured. Once they learn to eat eggs it's very difficult to stop.

Are they getting enough calcium and protein? I've found that layer feed isn't really all that special. I now feed Flock Raiser (higher protein content) with oyster shells in a separate container, that way they can regulate how much calcium their bodies actually need and the extra protein works well all year and helps them through molts and cold winters too.

You could also try keeping ceramic eggs in the nest boxes... very discouraging for birds that try to peck them, they may just give up trying. Here's a good thread with other suggestions:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chickens-eating-eggs.1310209/page-6

Thanks for the link! Yeah I’m giving them a layer feed but I put the oyster and egg shells out yesterday. They ate quite a few and if that’s any indication of a deficiency maybe that’s all it was. Plus they’re all young and new layers. Also they didn’t touch the hard shelled eggs today so I think we’re fine - yay! Thank you!

 

[feathermaid]

Thanks for the link! Yeah I’m giving them a layer feed but I put the oyster and egg shells out yesterday. They ate quite a few and if that’s any indication of a deficiency maybe that’s all it was. Plus they’re all young and new layers. Also they didn’t touch the hard shelled eggs today so I think we’re fine - yay! Thank you!

Awesome! I used to also keep oyster shell available even when I fed layer pellets. I think it's always nice to give them that option. And aart made a good point that new layers are a bit wonky until their systems balance out. Best wishes!

 

[BReeder!]

I never minded if my chickens ate a soft shell egg. We only had them when the hens first came into laying. We've never had an egg eater problem even if though they ate a few soft shell eggs. My quail have done the same thing lately as they are just coming into laying now. A few soft shells were eaten, but no hard shells were damaged.

I will add, be sure to provide a calcium supplement if you are getting soft shells. We just put microwave the egg shells and then blend them to crush them finely, and then we give that to the birds from time to time. I stock pile the crushed egg shells in an old ice tea mix can/container until we need them.

 

[BestLilHenhouse]

We have 18 girls all about 20 weeks old. Most of them are laying and all has been great! BUT!!! This evening one of our girls laid a soft shelled egg. Almost ALL of them ran over there so fast and they all ate it! It was so bizarre! You would have thought I threw their favorite treat in there the way they ran to eat it! I found an egg yesterday that was pecked open and one today that appeared to just be broken in the nest box but the shell seemed rather thin so I figured it got knocked around by one of them while laying. I was hoping the 2 eggs I found were not the result of egg eaters but when they all ran to eat the soft shelled egg I had second thoughts and just hoping it has to do with it being soft? HELP!!!!