Why Chickens Eat Their Own Eggs & How To Stop It
If your hens are starting to get into the pattern of eating their own eggs, it is important to stop the habit immediately. The longer you wait to break it, the harder it will be. While sometimes it can be accidental, once hens get a taste of their eggs, not only will they not want to stop eating them, but they could teach your other hens their bad egg-eating habits.
Why do chickens eat their own eggs? Chickens eat their own eggs for a number of reasons, including calcium or protein deficiency, accident, boredom or overcrowding in the nesting boxes. Nonetheless, whatever the reason your hens are eating their eggs, it is essential to break this habit as soon as possible.
In this article, we will take a closer look at the reasons chickens eat their eggs and ways to stop and prevent it.
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Table Of Contents
- Top 4 Reasons Chickens Eat Their Own Eggs
- Ways To Prevent Or Stop The Egg-Eating Habit
- Can You Feed Chickens Their Own Eggs?
Top 4 Reasons Chickens Eat Their Own Eggs
There are several reasons why your hens might start eating their eggs—understanding why can help you resolve the issue sooner.
Nutritional Deficiency
One reason your flock might start eating their eggs could be due to calcium or protein deficiencies caused by their diet. Both calcium and protein are important to maintaining healthy hens and egg production. If they are not getting enough from their feed, they will turn towards egg eating. Assess their diet and ensure you are feeding them enough nutrients to avoid deficiencies. Poultry vitamins and electrolytes can be added to food and water to address nutritional deficiencies. They are available in both liquid and powder form and can be purchased at local stores or online.
By Accident
From time to time, eggs will accidentally get broken. Whether your hen accidentally jumps on them in a crowded nesting box, steps on an egg, or maybe it simply falls and cracks, there are numerous ways this can happen. The problems begin when your hens get curious and decide to taste the broken eggs and realize how much they love them.
If you are lucky, your hens might not initially clue in that their eggs are also tasty snacks. However, if they do, it will result in a bad egg-break habit. Not only will they begin to break their eggs on purpose, but they also could teach the other hens and create more bad habits within your coop and fewer eggs for you.
Overcrowding
Overcrowding is a common reason for chickens to start eating their eggs. If the coop is too crowded, they could accidentally break an egg or purposely do it to make room. You must ensure hens have enough space and an appropriate amount of nesting boxes based on the number of hens. In addition, you can lessen this issue by collecting eggs daily.
To read more about nesting boxes, check out our article “Do Chickens Need Nesting Boxes?”
Boredom
Boredom can be a cause of many bad habits and behaviours from your hens and roosters. One of these habits includes pecking and eating their eggs. Additional symptoms that your flock is bored include aggression, feather picking and sometimes depression. If you notice these symptoms, it’s time to entertain your hens.
Ways To Prevent Or Stop The Egg-Eating Habit
Depending on what is causing your hens to eat their eggs, there are a few things you can do to help stop them or prevent it from happening.
1. Frequently Collect Eggs
Eggs should be collected from the coop at least once a day to avoid overcrowding and accidental breaking. Depending on how often your hens lay, you may need to gather eggs multiple times throughout the day. In extreme heat, eggs should be picked up more often as too high of temperatures can disrupt egg production and decrease the strength of the eggshells, making them more likely to break.
2. Adjust Their Diet
Food and water should always be available to your flock. But even then, their diets may sometimes lack essential nutrients like protein or calcium. If this is the case, your hens will try to adjust their diets themselves by eating eggs. Assess the chicken feed and replace it with one that contains more protein. Another great way to give your hens more protein is by feeding them cooked eggs, either scrambled or mashed hard-boiled. They will not associate them with their fresh eggs since the texture and smell are different.
3. Change The Nesting Box Cushioning
There are many different types of cushioning that can be placed in nesting boxes to protect the egg as it is laid. Cushioning such as the Precision Pet Nesting Pad can help ensure that the eggs do not break once laid, limiting the chances of your hen getting a taste of them. If an egg breaks, clean it up and change the bedding immediately.
Another option is to use roll-away nesting boxes like the Homestead Essentials Roll-Out Nesting Boxes. This works by rolling the egg into another area after it is laid where the hen cannot access it. However, if you already have nesting boxes, chances are you do not want to change around your coop and buy new ones, so this option is best left as a last resort.
4. Use A Decoy Egg
Using a decoy egg, such as these ceramic nest eggs, not only can help teach young hens where to lay eggs but can also assist with breaking egg-eating habits. If your hens try to peck at one, they will not be able to break it. In turn, this will hopefully teach them not to break into their real eggs.
5. Use Curtains In Nesting Boxes
First things first, hens like dark, private places to lay eggs. Be sure to place the nesting boxes in darkened areas of the coop, away from direct sunlight. If your nesting boxes are already in unlit areas, the next step is to try adding curtains to cut down the light.
Putting curtains up in the nesting boxes is a simple yet effective way to get hens to stop eating eggs. Chickens cannot see in the dark. Therefore, darkening the nesting boxes makes it so they will not be able to see the eggs, let alone peck at them.
6. Ensure There Is Enough Space
It is important that your chickens have space within the coop and enough nesting boxes. A general rule of thumb is to allow for two to four square feet of space per chicken. This will help ensure they have an adequate amount of space and avoid overcrowding, leading to egg breaking. In addition, there should be one nesting box for every four hens.
7. Provide Entertainment
Sometimes, hens will break their eggs out of pure boredom. Chickens tend to peck at things, and if they are left without entertainment, they can develop some bad habits. Along with egg eating, a few additional problems that occur from boredom are bullying, feather picking and aggression. To provide entertainment for your chickens, you can buy toys such as the Lixit Chicken Feeder Toy, make DIY toys such as hanging corn on the cob for hens to peck at or make a dust bath.
Can You Feed Chickens Their Own Eggs?
Chances are, if you came to this article, you are trying to stop your hens from eating their eggs. However, did you know that you can actually feed them eggs in a safe way that provides nutrients without feeding into their bad egg-eating habits?
Feeding chickens eggs will not encourage them to eat their own if you prepare them properly. To do this, either make scrambled eggs or mash hard-boiled eggs. By cooking and mashing the eggs, your hens will not mistake them for freshly laid eggs and, therefore, will not create any bad egg-eating habits.
Some people also feed their compost, including egg shells, to their chickens. If you choose to do this, be sure to crush the eggshells into tiny pieces first to prevent hens from associating and mistaking their eggs for food.
