How to stop chicken from eating eggs

One of the major issues you might face in your chicken farming business is your chickens eating their eggs. This will reduce the number of eggs you collect thus affecting your bottom line. 

The habit of chicken eating eggs is caused by several reasons. Once you identify reasons your chicken might eat your eggs, you need to put in place all measures to prevent it. It can spread very fast within your flock. 
If your chicken start eating eggs, then you will need to stop it.  If left unattended, it will result in losses in your poultry venture. 

How to tell if chickens are eating eggs 
Let us look at how to tell if your chickens are the ones eating eggs. There are several ways to tell if your chicken are eating eggs. The signs below will be tell-tell signs that one of your own is the culprit.

No eggs
Eggs disappear completely.  Without a trace. You will need first to eliminate the possibility of predators.  If you are keeping chicken under the free-range system, you will need to confirm that your birds are not hiding the eggs. 

No evidence of eaten eggs
When predators eat eggs, there may be some eggshells left behind. When chickens eat eggs, they do it so well that no noticeable remains are left. They will eat the egg white, the yolk, and all the shells. Talk of a clean job.

Egg on face
This might be hard to notice, but look closer. There may be yellow yolk stains on the beak or feathers of the chicken that is eating the eggs. 
This may be hard to notice if your chickens have yellowish beaks or feathers.  A forensic examination may be needed. Or not.  

Stakeout
This is an old investigation technique. Take out all the eggs from the nesting boxes. Wait and watch. After the next lay, the suspect chicken will immediately go in. And Voila! You will catch them in the act.  

Video evidence
Install a coop camera in your chicken house. You do not have to worry about hiding the camera. 
Your chicken will not notice them. Go through the footage and you will catch the chicken that is eating your eggs. 

Reasons for eating eggs
Let us look at reasons your chickens will eat your eggs and how to solve it once at for all.

Boredom
Once your chickens are done with feeding, drinking, and other chicken daily chores, they will have nothing else to do. 
They will find something else to keep them busy. This something else might be playing with eggs. In the midst of this “play”, the eggs might crack. Once the chicken tastes the egg, they will develop an acquired taste for eggs.
 Chickens will continue to break other eggs to satisfy this habit. Solution to chickens eating eggs due to boredom: Provide them with something to do. Keep busy. Provide enough roosts away from the nesting boxes for them to relax. Provide chicken toys where possible. Hang vegetables such as cabbages, or a bunch of greens for the chicken to peck on. 
This will keep the chicken occupied and your eggs safe. Ensure that you collect eggs at least twice a day. Old egg crime prevention strategy. No eggs to eat, No eggs are eaten. 

Weak eggshells  
After laying, chicken will walk on eggshells aimlessness as they decide what to do with the rest of the day. This might break the eggs. 
And as all chicken know, broken eggs are meant to be eaten. Once chickens taste eggs, they never go back. Solution to chicken eating eggs due to weak eggshells: Strengthen the eggshells by supplementing their feed with calcium. Give them feed meant for laying hens, which should be rich in calcium.

Few nest boxes
Hens need to do what they do best. Lay eggs. If the laying places are not enough, they will crowd and fight over what is there. 
During this struggle for the right to lay, they will probably break eggs. Solution to chickens eating eggs due to a few nest boxes: Strengthen the eggshells by supplementing their chicken feed with calcium. Give them feed meant for laying hens, which should be rich in calcium. 

Too much light
The nesting area should have dim light. Bright light will make the eggs shiny. Chickens will peck on shiny objects. 
Solution to chickens eating eggs due to too much light: Make sure the nesting area has dim lighting.

Lack of enough protein
If your chicken feed is not giving them the much needed protein, they will look for it wherever they can find it. Sometimes they will find the protein in the eggs. 
Solution to chicken eating eggs due to lack of protein: Make sure the chicken feed is balanced with the required protein content for laying birds.

Learn these
Balanced diet
Make sure your chicken feed is well balanced with enough protein, calcium, and other required nutrients for laying chicken.

Collect eggs
Collect eggs several times a day to avoid tempting your chickens. If they stay there for too long, the chickens will be tempted to play with the eggs. If they break them, they will eat them.

Enough space to lay
Make sure your chicken have enough nesting boxes so that they do not crowd in one. Move broody chicken away from the normal laying area so as to create enough space for the others.

Rollaway nesting boxes
Rollaway nesting boxes allow eggs to roll away from next into a separate compartment hidden from the chicken. With this, the chicken will have no eggs to eat.