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Hen eat her own eggs2007-11-24 17:19:50

I have a three year old hen laying beautiful eggs. If we do not collect the eggs on time,the hen will eat them herselves. Why is she doing this and how can we stop her?

Answers:

I live on a farm and experience the same problem! I would say, that maby she doesnt get enough gravel. Chickens need to eat gravel to digest their food. Or maby she found out how to crack an egg, and liked eating it, so continues to crack them! My suggustion is that if she is not getting enough gravel, give her some more, or go on to wwwfeathersite.com and try to ask your question there.

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we can only guess the hen is not getting enough grit and is using the shell as a substitute.once an egg eater always an egg eater.

one method of trying to stop this habit is to put a hole in each end and blow out the contents of the egg and replace with mustard and replace back under the hen.

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Here are some ways you can prevent your chicken(s) from eating eggs:

Reducing Traffic in the Nesting Area. Egg breakage is a major reason why hens start eating eggs. Excessive traffic in the nesting area increases the chance of egg breakage. Some precautions which can be taken include:

a) Provide one 12" x 12" nest for every 4-5 hens in your flock. Never have less than 6 nesting boxes. Always locate the nests at least 2 feet off the ground and at least four feet away from the roosts.

b) Keep 2 inches of clean, dry nesting material in the nests at all times. Many eggs are cracked due to a lack of protective padding in nesting boxes.