Will this cause problems

[emeraldgreen]

If there's not enough bedding in the nest boxes the eggs will crack when layed. Adding fake eggs can help deter those searching for a peckable egg, sounds like you need some white ones.

Nail on the head! We have rubber eggs, but they are brown! Will get some white ones

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Without reading the whole thread, hens put a lot of effort and energy into laying eggs. It seems to me that the hen would recycle her imperfect eggs instead of just tossing the resources her eggs represent.

 

[aart]

All mine are on an all flock rasier and i give them meat scraps every day and they free range so they should get good amount of protien. It is just that one hen that i have ever seen eat the eggs. They all go crazy for scrambled eggs in the am through lol. I cook them for my two year old and some days she wants a bit or two and other days she wont touch them so they go to the hens.

Are you providing oyster shells, always available in a separate container, for their calcium needs??
Lack of calcium can cause soft or thin shelled eggs...and eating what shells there are could be why they are eating eggs.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Yes they have 24/7 access to oyster shells i believe its my new layers my old layers dont lay soft shelled eggs. Its only when a new girl starts. Right now its the rhode island reds and barred rocks that are starting to lay so far i believe three of them have started out of seven.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

They also get scratch. Their total diet is all flock raiser, scratch, meat & other scraps, free ranging, treats (meal worms and mixed seeds), oyster shells, dryed egg shells when i have enough available. There is a total of twenty hens, ranging from 9 months-3/4months. They have an area of (my husband says 130x-100) 13,000 sq feet. And in spring they get treats from my garden right now they also get egg plant from one of the only plants i have in the garden i havent gotten one since they found it.

 

[aart]

They also get scratch. Their total diet is all flock raiser, scratch, meat & other scraps, free ranging, treats (meal worms and mixed seeds), oyster shells, dryed egg shells when i have enough available. There is a total of twenty hens, ranging from 9 months-3/4months. They have an area of (my husband says 130x-100) 13,000 sq feet. And in spring they get treats from my garden right now they also get egg plant from one of the only plants i have in the garden i havent gotten one since they found it.

But if they are not going outside......how big is the coop?

 

[Beekissed]

I have a leghorn who this morning i found with egg all over her (face&chest). I looked everywhere and finally looked in the front of the coop one the inside right behind the big door was what appeared to be yolk and white no shell. I am assuming that shell-less and soft (had a hen who laid two eggs that were pretty much just a light membran and hardly any shell) shelled eggs wont cause her to become a egg eater. I collected the other eggs from the coop and non of them were pecked or cracked so i am assuming she just goes for easy eggs. But will she adventually go for hard shelled eggs.

Nope. I've not had it happen in the last 40 yrs of flock tending, so I'm thinking it's a pretty rare occurrence to have a dedicated egg eater and most likely produced under a certain set of circumstances, but just opportunistic eating of soft, cracked or damaged eggs won't produce one. I'll even throw an egg to the flock, let it crack right there in front of them and watch them consume it and not have a single fear of turning even one chicken into an "egg eater"....every single chicken will eat an egg when given the chance.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

They always go outside but the coop its a three level coop i dont know i know its taller then My husband 5' 11'' and is at least eight foot long and four or five foot wide they have access to grass on then bottom floor, then they have a deck on the second floor and roost on the third they also have nesting boxes on that extend out of the coop on the second floor.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

So 12 sq foot per bird in the coop.