Eating the eggs

[Nikj50]

Hi I have 2 back yard chickens one is lying but one is eating the eggs any ideas please.

 

[sourland]

Try hanging a ccurtain to darken the nest area. Also place hard artificial nest eggs there.

 

[nuthatched]

Space, diet?

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Sometimes I have found through personal experience, when my ladies are laying with soft shells from low calcium levels, they tend to crack easily and break, especially when a new egg is plopped out and it hits another, or even just the hen turning and repositioning the eggs, knocking them together. The weak shell egg breaks and it presents it's self as a irresistible snack for the hen. But a bad habit can form quickly if breaking eggs are frequent. Then you will have what I call egg cannibalism. The solution I have when it happens here, I offer oyster & egg shell mixture we get at the local feed store. Some times if the oyster shell is too big and rocky. I smash it down into small easier to consume sizes. I add it to their feeders In case they can't find it when fed in a separate feeder.
Also twice a week I soak alfalfa pellets in some water until it mushes and feed it as a nutritious snack. Alfalfa also contains calcium, needed to replenish calcium levels in your poultry.
I hope this helps.

 

[alinas2010]

Hi and welcome! There are several threads out there on the site about this that you might find helpful. My hen, Ravioli, came to us from a neighbor who wanted to cull her for egg eating. When we adopted her from him, I realized she was only eating her own eggs because the shells were too soft and when she checked them after she laid them, they cracked and she would then eat them. Try cutting out treats and providing oyster shell if you haven’t already.

 

[50-45-1]

Are you sure? Is there a gooey mess in the next box?
Evaluate your set up and nest box situation.
give chickens lots of space and things to scratch through. Boredom sometimes leads bad habits if chickens are cramped together
Make your nest box dark. They dont eat what they cant see
Put deep bedding to cushon the eggs. What are you using for nest box material?
Evaluate what you are feeding. Is it sufficient protein,
Check for eggs several times a day. This will lessen the length if time your egg eater will have access to newly laid egg
Are your egg shells soft? This may mean you have deficient calcium. Soft or brittle shells break easily, and sometimes are the reason a chicken gets the habit started in the first place.
There are more ideas people will advise like mustard filled eggs and roll-away-nests.
I only seem to have this problem during the winter when my chickens are confined to to coop due to deep snow.

 

[TwoCrows]

Egg eating is a hard habit to break once they start. My flock started egg eating years ago because 1 young pullet couldn't put a shell on for the life of her. I installed curtains to make the boxes dark, it stopped others from cruising for eggs...nothing to see here! Hen slips in, lays her egg, it's dim inside, she doesn't bother it, others don't see it either. BUT you must collect eggs often at first and you need ceramic eggs in the boxes as well. They will play with eggs at first and ceramic eggs will teach them that eggs are impenetrable. I use cheap kitchen curtains, with a industrial staple gun, I stapled them to the top, a small slit in the middle for hens to slip into. You may need to peel open one side of the curtains at first so hens learn how to use them.Took a couple of weeks and egg eating was cured for good. Make sure to collect eggs often. There are 2 boxes here...

 

[Nikj50]

Are you sure? Is there a gooey mess in the next box?
Evaluate your set up and nest box situation.
give chickens lots of space and things to scratch through. Boredom sometimes leads bad habits if chickens are cramped together
Make your nest box dark. They dont eat what they cant see
Put deep bedding to cushon the eggs. What are you using for nest box material?
Evaluate what you are feeding. Is it sufficient protein,
Check for eggs several times a day. This will lessen the length if time your egg eater will have access to newly laid egg
Are your egg shells soft? This may mean you have deficient calcium. Soft or brittle shells break easily, and sometimes are the reason a chicken gets the habit started in the first place.
There are more ideas people will advise like mustard filled eggs and roll-away-nests.
I only seem to have this problem during the winter when my chickens are confined to to coop due to deep snow.

I given them dried worms for extra calcium they actually kick it out from the nest box lol it's usually at the bottom of there ladder from the coop, I v tryed a golf ball they kicked that out to, I will try a egg, thanks.

 

[Nikj50]

Egg eating is a hard habit to break once they start. My flock started egg eating years ago because 1 young pullet couldn't put a shell on for the life of her. I installed curtains to make the boxes dark, it stopped others from cruising for eggs...nothing to see here! Hen slips in, lays her egg, it's dim inside, she doesn't bother it, others don't see it either. BUT you must collect eggs often at first and you need ceramic eggs in the boxes as well. They will play with eggs at first and ceramic eggs will teach them that eggs are impenetrable. I use cheap kitchen curtains, with a industrial staple gun, I stapled them to the top, a small slit in the middle for hens to slip into. You may need to peel open one side of the curtains at first so hens learn how to use them.Took a couple of weeks and egg eating was cured for good. Make sure to collect eggs often. There are 2 boxes here...
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Thanks I try the curtains and a ceramic egg.

 

[Nikj50]

Space, diet?

They got space I give them lay pellets and corn, oyster shell, meal worms, anything else I can try?