Odd Chicken Behaviors Why Do Chickens Eat Their Eggs

Chickens are one of the most domesticated species and can be found in farm areas in abundance.These feathery animals are friendly and can be found almost everywhere. They are best known to be sources of eggs and are seen in most houses in small coops in backyards.Chickens are egg-laying birds, and they are domesticated and kept in the backyard of a house, mostly in rural areas. Hens are usually found in farms, where our eggs come from, which we eat in our breakfasts. A chicken is quite intelligent and knows how to get the attention of its owner. A hen lays an egg, and it is taken out from the nesting box by the farm owner or poultry, and this action can take place twice a day during the season of mating. There are different categories of chickens worldwide, and surprisingly there are more chickens than humans on planet earth. But to their utmost disadvantage, they can’t speak like humans do and therefore perform certain alarming actions and can make a human understand their needs. One such behavior is eating eggs. We know hens as egg-laying birds and not egg-eating birds, and therefore this impulsive behavior is quite alarming to the humans, and they can try to understand why the chicken would do such a thing.You might want to learn more about other fun facts about your feathery little friends. So go ahead and look at some other articles like why do birds sit on power lines and why do chickens lay eggs.Why do chickens eat their own eggshells?Raising chickens and collecting their eggs is a typical business everywhere, but it is not quite common to see chickens eating their own eggshells.This happens when a chicken has low calcium, and they start to eat eggshells. They usually won’t begin to peck on eggs, but if the nest box is crowded and an egg is broken, they might taste it, and this can develop into a habit once they start to like eating their own eggs. This egg-eating habit develops mainly by accident, and they continue to eat eggs when they have a calcium deficiency. Lack of protein in its diet leads the hens to peck on the eggs, and they end up eating their own eggs to supplement the lack of calcium in their diet. To avoid this, it is essential that egg-laying hens feed on protein-filled food and should also be given oyster shells as food, as they are filled with protein.Another reason for hens to start eating eggs is that their nesting boxes are not enough. The coop for a flock of hens should be adequate and have proper space. Owners must collect eggs and keep the bedding of the nest boxes clean for their hens. If the area in a nest box is less than required, chickens start to break eggs and feed on the eggshells.This habit can also develop out of boredom, and when they don’t have enough space, they start breaking eggs and creating a mess. The only solution in this scenario is to keep the nest boxes clean and have the correct number of nesting boxes in a coop so that hens don’t feel stuffed.How do you stop them?Chickens eating their own eggs is a rare view, and it is essential to stop chickens from doing so, as it can develop into a bad habit.It is imperative that before forcing the chickens to stop eating their own eggs, you should have the chicken checked for any internal illness. Chickens tend to eat their own eggs when they are ill or lack calcium. The very first step to ensure they stop eating their eggs is to get them checked. If they lack calcium in their diet, they should provide plenty of free choice oyster shells as food to the hens, as they are high in calcium.Another reason for chickens to show this behavior is out of boredom. When the chickens’ nesting boxes have less space in their nests or the nest box is dirty, they start to be bored, which can lead to the chicken breaking the eggs. When the chickens find their nest boxes congested, they are tempted to break their own eggs. This is why you should collect the fresh eggs twice a day, and the nesting box should be frequently cleaned. If owners collect eggs on time and keep it away from the chickens, they won’t peck on them or push them down in the nesting area.Several contraptions enable the egg to roll down to a safe place without having the human pick them up twice a day from the nesting box. This also stops the chicken from breaking the eggs and eating the eggshells.How to tell which hens are eating eggs?It is not common for chickens to practice egg eating, and the culprit can easily be spotted by people who breed chickens.When one chicken starts to break eggs and gets the yolk taste from the broken chicken egg, the whole flock follows and starts to break fresh eggs, and they begin to eat their own eggs. This habit needs to be stopped immediately as eating their own eggs will lead to fewer eggs for the owner. It is pretty easy to tell which hens start eating eggs by looking at their beaks. Their beak would have egg yolk, and if carefully inspected, the egg eater can be detected. This habit needs to be broken as it would become harder to change once they develop an egg-eating habit.After the culprit is detected, the only solution is to keep it away from the rest of the flock to stop the behavior. After some days, the hen automatically forgets to eat eggs, and then it can be moved to the coop with the rest of the flock. The most critical step to ensure that this habit doesn’t develop is to stop the breakage of fresh eggs in the coop. Young chickens tend to lay eggs on the floor, unlike adult eggs which use the nesting area to lay eggs. The eggs must be collected from the nesting boxes as soon as possible, as a broken egg is a supplement for calcium deficiency in the hens’ diet.What else can you give chickens to peck?Chickens can be seen pecking at absolutely everything, and pecking on their eggs is not good behavior as it will break the egg.To stop chickens from their egg-eating behavior, they should be given fake eggs like ceramic eggs or wooden eggs so that they can keep on trying to break the fake egg, and then when the shell doesn’t break, it will stop. This is perfect for a hen when the egg eater is found and kept isolated. This can train a hen from breaking eggs, and after some days, they can be shifted back to their own coop. It is not right to get rid of hens just cause they started to eat their own eggs. It is important to stop chickens from pecking on eggshells, and this can be easily achieved. Golf balls are also an excellent alternative to give to egg-laying hens so that they can stop pecking.To stop a chicken from eating eggs, they need to be feeding on proper food. If they have a balanced diet, then they won’t break eggs and feed on them.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Why do chickens eat their eggs, then why not take a look at why do flamingos stand on one leg or old German owl pigeon facts pages?

Chickens are one of the most domesticated species and can be found in farm areas in abundance.