One of my hens eats her eggs! What do I do??

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

I have five laying hens, and one of my hens (an older ISA Brown I think) is eating her eggs! I think its her who eats eggs because only the ISA Browns eggs that are ever devoured. She has access to food, water, grit, and calcium 24/7. Is there a solution to this? Also, the shells of both my ISA Browns (I have two hens, same age) are always much weaker than my other, younger hens. What could the reason be for that?

My breeds are Buff Orpington x1, Speckled Sussex x1, Ameraucana x1, and ISA Brown x2. My two ISA Browns are 4 or 5 years old. The rest are two years old.

 

[50-45-1]

Do you feed oyster shell?
Are your nest boxes dark or brightly lit?

 

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

Do you feed oyster shell?
Are your nest boxes dark or brightly lit?

I have Oyster Shells that they can eat 24/7, but even if I didn't have enough, wouldn't the other hens also have weak shells? My nesting boxes are right across from a window in the coop, so there is whatever natural light get through there.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

Do you feed oyster shell?
Are your nest boxes dark or brightly lit?

Do you think the problem could be genetics or age?

 

[50-45-1]

Well, once the habit starts. Ots hard to stop. It likely got started because an egg accidentally broke, maybe one of your thin shelled ones. And someone found out it tastes good. Then that bad actor actively will break eggs on purpose for the tasty treet inside.
Darkened Nest boxes help because if they cant see it, they cant eat it
I cured a feather picker once with pinless peepers. She wore the glasses for 3 weeks, and forgot about it after they came off. These may work for egg eating also, but the challenge is to figure out who is doing it first.
I think it's natural for older hen to produce thinner shells as they age. Maybe others will have tips to get more calcium into your older hens system.

Good Luck!

 

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

Well, once the habit starts. Ots hard to stop. It likely got started because an egg accidentally broke, maybe one of your thin shelled ones. And someone found out it tastes good. Then that bad actor actively will break eggs on purpose for the tasty treet inside.
Darkened Nest boxes help because if they cant see it, they cant eat it
I cured a feather picker once with pinless peepers. She wore the glasses for 3 weeks, and forgot about it after they came off. These may work for egg eating also, but the challenge is to figure out who is doing it first.
I think it's natural for older hen to produce thinner shells as they age. Maybe others will have tips to get more calcium into your older hens system.
View attachment 4078201
Good Luck!

Thanks for the response! Hopefully I can stop it

 

[nuthatched]

Usually, an egg breaks by accident and they learn it's tasty.
It could also could be a nutrition problem.

 

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

Usually, an egg breaks by accident and they learn it's tasty.
It could also could be a nutrition problem.

How would I know if it is a nutrition problem? Would there be other signs?

 

[nuthatched]

How would I know if it is a nutrition problem? Would there be other signs?

Egg eating is a sign, slow molting, poor feather quality, low productivity etc.
Basically, chickens primarily focus is to reproduce, but if there's not enough available nutrients, they'll switch to just surviving, by any means.

 

[Acre4Me]

Egg eating is annoying -very hard to break. But, we use fake eggs to help. We are up to 6 fake eggs per nest box right now…we have a stubborn one, but it has lessened. Collected eggs more frequently. Provide them with roosts in the run, fresh/cool water bc they will drink more water when it’s cool. Feed them a higher protein feed meant for chickens…so they are getting the right amino acids. When I give mine a treat…it is their proper feed with water added and a few seeds or bits of fruit scattered on top - that way their “treat”is not diluting their proper nutrition. You could also give vitamins in their water (NutriDrench as an example) 1x per week (or dose directly in beak 1x er week).