[eng13]

hi all, has anyone come across ther hens eating egg, i have two and are trying to eat the eggs that have just been  layed 

[shetlandpaul]

chicken pie. is the answer. its very hard to stop the habit

[Unicorn]

Yep

Chicken Pie or soup - tried the mustard on eggs, separating them, all the advice people give,
but once they have the taste and the bad habit it is very hard to stop them.

[Cluckinggoodpoultry]

I used marble and false eggs and that seems to have stopped the problem, so my hens escaped the chicken pie 

[eng13]

  no not a pie,i love them

[doganjo]

I had one - an ex batt.  I gave her to QWOLF who tried her with a mustard filled egg - she ate it with relish (like that one?)

I believe she escaped over a wall into a free range chicken farm.

[shetlandpaul]

no not a pie,i love them

ok curry then.

[northfifeduckling]

my friend had 2 lots like that. she tried everything and more  - ended up in hen heaven prematurely after all...

[Pentre1230]

A last resort if you are attached to them and dont want to eat them is to trim the beak...but get a poultry man/woman who knows what they are doing to do it for you...

[Hardfeather]

Pull their necks before the others start to copy them.

[aparker155]

Ooo you're all so harsh!!

Where do they lay egg13?? If they lay in a nest box then you can get (or even make) a 'roll-away' nest box which is designed so that when the egg is laid it rolls down into a cushioned area which is partitioned away from the hen so the hen can't get to the egg. If you do a search on the internet it should come up with plenty of information on these!!

Just another point - are your eggshells hard? My hens have been known to eat any soft-shelled eggs which are laid but can't (or don't) with proper hard-shelled eggs. If you have a problem with soft-shelled eggs (and are already supplying the oyster shell as required) then you can add some limestone flour (for calcium) and cod liver oil (for vitamin E to aid calcium absorption) - I always add a teaspoon of both once a week to their food to prevent any issues.

[northfifeduckling]

limestone flour - is different from ordinary garden lime, I take it? Would I get that at my feed merchants? I do get a few cracked duck eggs a week, it might improve the situation. thanks also for the tip with the Vit E. 

[aparker155]

No problem!

Yes limestone flour is very different from garden lime - I couldn't get it from my local feed shop so I got mine online from a horse feed supplier as they use it for horses as a calcium supplement:

http://www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk/whatproduct/supplements/lime.htm

[eng13]

thank you all for your help