Chickens are omnivores , which means they’lleatjust about anything . They love to forage in the grass for green , grubs and other hemipteran , and they ’ll blithely gobble up any of your erstwhile mesa scrap , fromberriesandsquashto Gallic fries and stale staff of life . They ’re natural foragers , meaning their inherent aptitude is to go out and search for their next repast . On affair , a hungry or bored hen may circumstantially falter upon the luscious taste of one of her own eggs , and this is a severe wont for a hen to modernise .
Egg feeding can become a serious problem for biddy . understand the ways this exploratory behavior becomes a substance abuse can help you prevent it from intensify .
Why Do Hens Eat Eggs?
When young hens commence to lie in , their eggs ’ shells are thin , soft and fall apart easily .
A odd frier might research a new egg with her beak , only to chance that it burst receptive to release water gate of tasty stuff deep down . Chickens are quick scholar , and a biddy that has develop a taste perception for eggs will undoubtedly come back to a fresh nest to break launch the next one … and the next one … and the next one . Other hens might get wind instrument of this new kickshaw , and soon , you ’ll have an epidemic on your hands .
Another schooltime of thought is that a contemplative biddy checks an orchis ’s shell enduringness by pecking at the egg ; this is thought to be a way of testing the orchis and evaluating if it ’s strong enough to set and crosshatch . If the egg is strong and the casing is thick , the hen will sit on it . If the egg is light , and the shell is tenuous , she will gobble it up , destroy the evidence and try again .
Other times , hens may just be Ca deficient and are just naturally searching for something to have that will gratify this depletion . Eggshells are a great reference of calcium , but biddy should not develop the use of eating them right out of the nest . ( If you do determine to give your hens eggshell for Ca — an satisfactory practice — ensure you beat them up into slight pieces so they do n’t resemble whole eggs , and furnish them in a designated feeder . )
The easiest solution for calcium deficiency is to supply your lay hen with oyster shell ; huitre carapace are high in Ca and should always be made available to your laying ladies . This supplement , designed specifically for poultry , can be found at your local feed - and - seminal fluid or farm - supplying storage . If there are none in your area , many farm - supply chains and poultry suppliers are found online .
Halt the Habit—Now!
If you find that you have an egg - eat on violent disorder on your hands , play rapidly but do n’t panic . Take a raw egg or two and blow out the inside . This can be done by making small holes at the top and bottom of the bollock and blowing out the interior with a imbibing straw . Then fill the now - empty shell with plain chicken mustard and volunteer it to your crybaby . crybaby notoriously detest table mustard , and once they develop undefended the shell , they will feel that the interior is not to their liking !
recur this unconscious process as necessary until you determine that the hen leave all eggs alone . If you detect that one biddy is spearheading the egg - run through tendency , isolate it to a chicken tractor or brood hen house and supervise it closely . Egg eat is incredibly contagious , and once certify , the rest of the passel will learn promptly .
As always , the best way of life to stop a bad habit is to keep it from forming in the first place . Keep a vigilant oculus on your flock ’s behavior , and take the necessary caution to create a sizable , happy repose surround for your birds . Before you know it , you ’ll have more ballock than you know what to do with — so practice those recipes , and enjoy your eggs !
