Why are my hens eating their own eggs?

[SHeld]

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.
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Good ideas. I need to break her habit. Thanks.

 

[aart]

Good ideas. I need to break her habit. Thanks.

Does she show the signs I posted?
Seriously, how long has she been sitting a nest?
The longer she's been broody the longer it may take to break her.

 

[SHeld]

Does she show the signs I posted?
Seriously, how long has she been sitting a nest?
The longer she's been broody the longer it may take to break her.

Defi

now dried grass clippings. Then, after a few days and another mowing, I would dump more bins of grass clippings into the run. I repeated

nitely has same signs. She surely read the book!

 

[SHeld]

Defi


nitely has same signs. She surely read the book!

Does she show the signs I posted?
Seriously, how long has she been sitting a nest?
The longer she's been broody the longer it may take to break her.

maybe about two weeks. She definitely has changed recently. And she is aggressive when I try to get eggs from under her. When I took her out of the nest at bedtime she did run around the yard and even drank some water

 

[aart]

When I took her out of the nest at bedtime she did run around the yard and even drank some water

Then she went back to the nest.....or did you put her in the breaker crate?

 

[along121]

Chickens get bored very easy. Do they have plenty to do. I wanted my run/coop all nice and neat. The hens went crazy... There always seemed to be this tension in the coop. Now I have things for them to do. I put up a branch to sit on, Two large dust boxes, A hook where I hang a vegetable like cucumber, squash, etc. I even made a 2 inch pool out of an old lid to a large tub. They sit on the edge of it with their toes in the water when it's really hot. I was told by an old farmer. They are like kids. When they get bored they start fighting. I'm sure the first egg was an accident and now they like the taste. Gather eggs more than once a day, use the wooden/fake eggs and block that nest box. Maybe that will change it up. this might take a while to resolve.

 

[SHeld]

maybe about two weeks. She definitely has changed recently. And she is aggressive when I try to get eggs from under her. When I took her out of the nest at bedtime she did run around the yard and even drank some water

Then she went back to the nest.....or did you put her in the breaker crate?

Not yet because it was going to rain. I’ll try that today.