Broody hens are hens that are incubating a clutch of eggs in order to hatch them. This motherly instinct is strong in many breeds of chickens, who will stop laying eggs and instead focus on hatching eggs and raising chicks.
However, sometimes unusual behaviors can emerge in broody hens, including eating their own eggs. This seems counterproductive since the hen is trying to hatch the eggs, not eat them! So why would a broody hen engage in egg eating? There are a few possible reasons.
Reason 1: Accident or Mistake
Sometimes hens may break an egg by accident. If this happens, they may eat the spilled contents of the egg, not consciously realizing that they are eating their own egg. This can happen if a broody hen shifts position or steps on an egg by mistake. The hen’s mothering instinct is to eat the egg material rather than let it go to waste.
If the shell is still intact after the accident, the hen may also begin purposefully eating the damaged egg to eliminate the unviable egg from the nest. So in this scenario, eating the egg may start accidentally but turn into a purposeful act to tidy up the nest.
Reason 2: Nutritional Deficiency
Broody hens stop laying eggs and spend all their time and energy sitting in the nest to incubate the eggs. This change in behavior can sometimes lead to nutritional deficiencies, as the hen is no longer getting nutrients from producing eggs or spending time foraging for food.
The hen may realize on some instinctual level that by eating some of the eggs in her clutch, she can regain nutrients like protein and calcium that her body requires. While this may reduce the total number of hatchlings, the broody hen will be healthier and stronger, allowing her to continue incubating the rest of the eggs.
Reason 3: Unhealthy Eggs
Occasionally, an egg may go rotten or not develop properly. If this happens, a broody hen may eat the bad egg to prevent it from contaminating the rest of the clutch. By selectively removing unhealthy eggs, she increases the chances of successfully hatching the healthy eggs.
Signs that an egg has gone bad include cracks, a foul odor, discoloration, or obvious signs of underdevelopment when candled. By eating only the compromised eggs, the broody hen demonstrates her natural ability to be selective in caring for her nest.
Reason 4: Crowded Nest
Some hens may become broody even when they don’t have a suitable nesting area. If the nest is too small or crowded, eggs can become broken, moved around, or even lost from the nest.
A broody hen trying to make do with a suboptimal nest may eat some eggs to reduce crowding and therefore decrease chances of the remaining eggs getting damaged. While heartbreaking for the hen, reducing the clutch may be her only option to protect some of the eggs when her nesting conditions are poor.
Reason 5: First Time Broody Hen
A hen that is brooding for the first time may not have her mothering instincts fully developed. As she learns to incubate the eggs properly and turn them as needed, her inexperience can lead to inadvertently damaged eggs.
Rather than let the broken egg contents spill out in the nest, she eats them by instinct even though she does not understand that she should be incubating these eggs. Over time, the hen should learn proper incubation methods. Her egg eating behavior is not malicious but rather a result of naivety.
Reason 6: Stress or Fear
Any predator or threat to the nest is likely to elicit a fear response in the broody hen. This can cause her to behave erratically, frantically leaving the nest and then returning, potentially trampling or breaking some eggs in the process.
Chickens are highly reactive to perceived threats and can easily become stressed. A frightened hen may eat some of her eggs as an abnormal displacement behavior in the stressful situation, while attempting to protect the rest of the clutch from the potential predator.
Reason 7: Dominance Behavior
In rare cases, two hens may compete over a nest location. If the dominant hen forces the other off the nest, she may eat the other hen’s eggs, essentially destroying the subordinate’s clutch. While evolutionarily this prioritizes the dominant hen’s eggs, it is still an unfortunate behavior pattern that can emerge in the complexity of the flock environment.
This is more common when space is limited and multiple hens are vying for prime nesting real estate. Having adequate individual nest boxes reduces competition and the need for displays of dominance through egg eating.
Reason 8: Predation
Though not the hen’s fault, sometimes nests are raided by predators leading to loss of eggs. Common egg thieves include snakes, rats, raccoons, opossums, and birds of prey. With the eggs damaged and contents spilled, a broody hen may resort to eating what remains of the egg rather than leave egg remnants strewn in the nest.
Though heartbreaking for the hen and her keeper, this is one scenario where egg eating is not the hen’s own doing. Being robbed of your clutch is a sad reality birds face in the wild. The hen is making the best of the aftermath.
How to Prevent Egg Eating
While some loss of eggs may be inevitable with a broody hen before she perfects incubation, there are steps caretakers can take to minimize egg eating behaviors:
- Provide a suitable nesting area that is clean, dry, and has adequate space for the clutch size. Overcrowding leads to broken eggs.
- Ensure proper nutrition so the hen does not eat eggs out of nutritional deficiency. Free choice oyster shell is ideal.
- Reduce stressors and predators that can panic the hen and cause erratic behaviors like trampling eggs.
- Remove obviously damaged eggs to encourage desired incubation behaviors.
- Collect eggs frequently so they are fresh. An older rotten egg is more likely to get eaten.
- Separate competitive hens so no one hen is allowed to dominate.
- Isolate a first time broody hen until she learns proper brooding behaviors.
With good husbandry practices, egg eating should be a rare behavior in the flock. It is natural but can be minimized with proper care when hens go broody. Be patient and allow the hen time to settle into a maternal routine.
When to Be Concerned
Occasionally eating her own egg is usually not cause for concern. However, if the hen starts eating most or all of the eggs she lays then it has become a compulsive habit requiring intervention.
Consult an avian veterinarian if egg eating becomes chronic, as there may be an underlying health issue causing this behavior. Also reevaluate the hen’s environment and remove any triggers that could be stressing her out leading to egg eating.
With some adjustments to care and housing conditions, as well as addressing any medical issues, most compulsive egg eating behaviors can be corrected so the hen resumes normal laying habits.
Conclusion
To summar summarise, a broody hen may occasionally eat one of her own eggs for various reasons including:
- Accidental damage to an egg
- Nutritional deficiency while brooding
- Removing unhealthy eggs from the nest
- Crowded nest conditions
- Naivety in a first-time brooder
- Fear and stress
- Dominance behaviors
- Predation of the nest
While eating some eggs is inevitable, a properly cared for broody hen should not ingest most of her clutch. With good husbandry practices and prompt veterinary care if it becomes a compulsive habit, egg eating behaviors can be minimized so the broody hen can successfully hatch a clutch. Raising chicks is the ultimate reward for a broody hen’s mothering instincts!