COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE . DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SCIENCES . PURDUE UNIVERSITY
poultry for profit
P-91
October 1970
Are your hens egg eaters?
Richard L. Adams
Extension Poultryman
Laying hens who eat eggs pose a costly, stubborn problem for poultrymen. Egg eaters, once they have acquired the habit, are difficult to stop; and they will eat both good and bad shell eggs. Even worse, the vice spreads quickly from one hen to another.
Both caged and floor layers and large and small operations are vulnerable to the chicken's vice, although it is more difficult to break the habit with caged layers, since fewer corrective measures are available.
Empty egg shells, either on the floor or in nests or cages are indicators of the problem.
Breaking the habit: The best cure for egg eating is to prevent it. Egg eating usually begins with a few birds which eat eggs that have been broken. Therefore, those things which cause egg breakage should be eliminated or reduced. Common causes of egg breakage include: inadequate nesting space, insufficient nesting material, failure to gather eggs frequently, and the laying of large numbers of soft or thin shell eggs.
Correcting the problem with floor birds: Provide plenty of nests, about one for each four or five hens. Use plenty of nesting Material and replenish often. Placing a section. of cut-to-fit cardboard in the bottom of
the nest is helpful when nesting material has been pushed aside. Darkening the nests may also help. Using community nests usually results in less breakage and egg eating. Remove the broody hens so that fighting will be reduced and fewer eggs broken. Placing glass eggs or torn pieces of white paper on the floor will often frustrate the birds and sometimes break the habit.

Correcting the problem with caged layers: Check the slope of the cages to see whether it will allow the egg to roll forward out of reach of the hen as soon as it has been laid. Check the physical condition of the cages to be sure that the hen cannot reach the egg once it has rolled forward.
Correcting the problem with either floor or caged birds: Gather eggs frequently, a minimum of three times a day. Do not feed soft shell, cracked eggs or egg shells to either caged or floor birds. Don't drop or throw the soft shell eggs on the floor.
Debeak the birds. This will make the end of the beak sensitive and for a time will prevent their pecking at the egg shell.
If the egg eating problem is aggravated by an excessive number of soft or thin shell eggs, then the cause of the poor shells should be found and corrected if possible.
Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of Indiana, Purdue University and U. S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating. H. G. Diesslin, Director, Lafayette, Ind. Issued in furtherance of the Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914.