Why are my hens eating their own eggs?

[SHeld]

Yes, I covered my nest boxes 3/4 of the way and I parted the curtains for a week or two. I put fake wooden eggs in the boxes.

Thanks. Interesting . Maybe Grumpy would not like staying there so well.

 

[aart]

I have not changed feed, they are over 1 1/2 years old. Their shells are very strong. I have noticed several pecks in the shells also. She is definitely broody.

How long has she been broody?
Is that when the egg eating started?
I'd use fake eggs, not mustard filled(that just makes another kind of mess to clean up).
Gather eggs frequently until the habit stops.

What all and how exactly are you feeding?
They may need something more/less at this time.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Sure mustard makes a mess, but the look on a chickens face when they start eating what they think is a yummy egg, then get a nice bite of mustard is priceless. Absolutely priceless.

 

[aart]

Sure mustard makes a mess, but the look on a chickens face when they start eating what they think is a yummy egg, then get a nice bite of mustard is priceless. Absolutely priceless.

Did you see it?
Get it on video?(that would be GREAT!)
Did it cure your egg eating problem?

Most times it doesn't work.
Chickens don't have heat receptors so spicy stuff doesn't faze them.
Hard fake eggs are more effective without the mess.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Did you see it?
Get it on video?(that would be GREAT!)
Did it cure your egg eating problem?

Most times it doesn't work.
Chickens don't have heat receptors so spicy stuff doesn't faze them.
Hard fake eggs are more effective without the mess.

Before I went to college, we had an egg eating problem at my mom’s farm and we used mustard eggs. I sadly did not get it on video, but it did work. I don’t know why chickens hate mustard, but they just seem to have a distaste for it. Fake eggs do work better, but mustard is just absolutely hilarious.

 

[SHeld]

How long has she been broody?
Is that when the egg eating started?
I'd use fake eggs, not mustard filled(that just makes another kind of mess to clean up).
Gather eggs frequently until the habit stops.

What all and how exactly are you feeding?
They may need something more/less at this time.

The food she is getting LAYER CRUMBLES. By Country Roads. I buy it at Rural King Produced by Cargill Animal Nutrition. Crude Protein -16%
Lysine 0.6 %
Calcium. 4.0%
Crude Fiber 8.0%.
Fat. 3.0%
She has been broody from about forever. Recently even more so.
Today I introduced the fake eggs and she has been sitting on those all day but she and one other hen did lay eggs as well. I did retrieve them before she bothered them. Maybe it was the fakers that helped but she is still sitting there.

 

[SHeld]

The food she is getting LAYER CRUMBLES. By Country Roads. I buy it at Rural King Produced by Cargill Animal Nutrition. Crude Protein -16%
Lysine 0.6 %
Calcium. 4.0%
Crude Fiber 8.0%.
Fat. 3.0%
She has been broody from about forever. Recently even more so.
Today I introduced the fake eggs and she has been sitting on those all day but she and one other hen did lay eggs as well. I did retrieve them before she bothered them. Maybe it was the fakers that helped but she is still sitting there.

Oh, I also feed kitchen scraps and they have a mineral block.

 

[aart]

She has been broody from about forever. Recently even more so.
Today I introduced the fake eggs and she has been sitting on those all day but she and one other hen did lay eggs as well. I did retrieve them before she bothered them. Maybe it was the fakers that helped but she is still sitting there.

Constantly forever...or off and on?
Are you going to give her fertile eggs to hatch?

 

[SHeld]

Constantly forever...or off and on?
Are you going to give her fertile eggs to hatch?

No. I’m not hatching eggs. I only have hens for eggs and as pets sorta. This hen has been the leader of the flock but I’m noticing another sort of taking this lead. Maybe she isn’t happy about this. I introduced two newbies not long ago. She was not happy about it but now the girls are all getting along. Not sure what is going on with her.

 

[aart]

If she's truly broody and you don't want her to hatch eggs, you should break her broodiness.

My go-to signs on a broody.
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, IMO it's best to break her broodiness promptly.

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Tho not necessary a chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.