Why are my chickens breaking their eggs

You also have to observe your hens. Once shes learned to do that other hens will learn it from her and soon you may be very short on eggs.

If your chicken coop is not properly predator-proof then small predators like snakes or rats can enter inside and eat or break eggs.

Why are my chickens breaking their eggs. If your chicken coop is not properly predator-proof then small predators like snakes or rats can enter inside and eat or break eggs. This type of small animals will not harm your hens just break or steal the eggs. You also have to observe your hens.

If you notice dried yolk in their heads then your hens are guilty for egg breaking. Egg eating is a nasty habit sometimes found in young pullets and even older hens. Although many people may say egg eating is impossible to break and to just cull the hen in many cases this is not true.

Egg eating often starts when an egg is accidentally broken in the nest box and the hen pecks at it. Do your chickens eat their eggs. Do they peck or break the eggs and eat the eggs and yolk.

This is a great new trick to get them to stop breaking the eggs. Chickens peck holes in their eggs because they are either curious hungry testing the strength of the shell or want to support their baby chicks during the hatching process. Sometimes your chickens may be accidentally stepping on their eggs which gives off the illusion that they are pecking them.

One hen is laying perfect eggs pretty much daily. Peaches is not as regular. Every other day is normal for her or two days in a row then a break.

She isnt too long from her molt and the other hen is going through a mild bully phase right now. No serious but Peaches is sensitive to it and that may effect her egg-laying. Overcrowding is a common source of anxiety in chickens as is poor lighting.

These are issues usually found in larger chicken farms. A stressed-out chicken may peck more and have repetitive movements that can cause the eggs to break. Eating those eggs once they are broken is.

Stress is a common culprit behind hens eating their own eggs. Identifying potential stressors in your chickens lives from a lack of food and water to parasites or even predator pressure can help you eliminate egg-eating behavior. How to Stop Chickens From Eating Their Own Eggs 1.

A chicken may begin eating their eggs if their calcium levels are low. Calcium deficiency causes a chicken to seek out a supplemental diet of eggshells. Chickens may also eat their eggs due to accidental discovery.

If a chicken coop is crowded a chicken can very easily break an egg. There are a few reasons that chickens peck holes in their eggs and eat them but contrary to popular belief it is rarely because they need shell or calcium in the diet. It is much more likely to do with lack of protein boredom or a formed habit.

Sometimes chickens are just plain or curious and they play with or peck at their eggs. It could be due to boredom but sometimes they see a crack speck or otherwise on their egg and break into it. An egg that was broken accidentally is something interesting to your hen.

Chickens quick to eat anything that looks like food voraciously lap up the white and yolk of the broken egg. Once a hen has tasted fresh egg and found it to be good food she may start breaking eggs intentionally in order to eat them. Once shes learned to do that other hens will learn it from her and soon you may be very short on eggs.

Both environmental and physical stress factors can cause a hen to lay an egg with a weak egg yolk. Molting can be a stress factor in a weak egg yolk. Increasing protein in the diet should help eliminate the problem.

Weather can also affect the hens and possibly cause stress to their system. Broken eggs can give hens a taste for egg eating creating little feathered monsters. Egg eating becomes contagious – hens watch each other and pick up the habit.

Egg eating also can start if hens dont receive adequate amounts of calcium and protein leading to soft-shelled easily broken eggs.