Why are my chickens eating their own eggs?
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This unfortunate habit usually appears when an egg is accidentally broken. The chicken's natural instinct is to peck at things, and they certainly like the taste of egg. Once this behaviour becomes established, they'll learn to deliberately break eggs & eat them. The culprit/s can be easily identified by the yolk all over their heads.
Egg eating is not an easy thing to fix. Here are a few preventative measures: 1. Get rid of the offending birds - you can't break the habit & they will teach others to do it. 2. If your birds like to lay in nest boxes, build or buy the roll away variety. This removes the egg from their environment as soon as it's laid. 3. Collect your eggs early in the morning, as soon as they're laid. This can prevent the habit forming in the first place. Multiple collections during the day are even better. 4. Line next boxes with soft bedding like wood shavings, to prevent accidental breakages. |
5. Don't overcrowd chickens, or have too few nest boxes.
6. Leave some decoy eggs around, e.g. golf balls or plastic "dummy" eggs around - they'll soon get sick of pecking those, without any tasty reward. Just a sore beak.
7. Make sure the hens have enough protein in their diet. 16% is a good yardstick. Hens deficient in protein are more likely to develop an egg eating problem.
8. Egg eating can develop in hens who are deficient in calcium, which is required to form the egg shell. Ensure adequate calcium is fed, in good quality layer pellets or additional shell grit.
9. Don't let your hens get hungry - they'll be pecking at everything including eggs.
10. An old bushie's trick is to prick a hole in both ends of the eggs, blow out its contents and syringe in some hot mustard, which hens find disgusting. It may take a few goes before this works - hens are not renowned for remembering much.
6. Leave some decoy eggs around, e.g. golf balls or plastic "dummy" eggs around - they'll soon get sick of pecking those, without any tasty reward. Just a sore beak.
7. Make sure the hens have enough protein in their diet. 16% is a good yardstick. Hens deficient in protein are more likely to develop an egg eating problem.
8. Egg eating can develop in hens who are deficient in calcium, which is required to form the egg shell. Ensure adequate calcium is fed, in good quality layer pellets or additional shell grit.
9. Don't let your hens get hungry - they'll be pecking at everything including eggs.
10. An old bushie's trick is to prick a hole in both ends of the eggs, blow out its contents and syringe in some hot mustard, which hens find disgusting. It may take a few goes before this works - hens are not renowned for remembering much.