Chickens are smarter than we give them credit for.

I've been dealing with egg eaters for a while now. I have tried a lot of "remedies" to stop it, with limited success.  Mostly I think it comes down to they enjoy eating eggs.  
In the summer it's annoying because I have to clean the nesting boxes quite often. In the fall and winter it's very upsetting because I don't get many eggs, so loosing 1 or 2 a day makes me kinda ticked off.  
One thing I haven't tried were the ceramic eggs. The way it's supposed to work is they can't break the ceramic eggs and Lean there's no yummy pay off for breaking eggs.  
Unfortunately my chickens didn't get the memo.  They learned the difference in the sound, or feel of the eggs.  I dropped one of the ceramic eggs, and some of them ran over to peck it. It only  took one peck and they walk away.  I'm still loosing eggs.  For me the only use I have for the ceramic eggs is to see who the culprits are.  I should eliminate these ladies and be done with it. I just don't have it in me. I will just keep trying.  
Is it good or bad that my hens are smarter than the fake 🥚?

My grandpa said that chickens were stupid enough to drown in the rain. I had a chicken that would move her nest every time I took her eggs. She would always put her nests in the prickliest bushes in my yard. I got the smart idea to give her some fake wood eggs for her to sit on. It worked for a week or two, and then she started rolling the fake eggs out of her nest. I put her and one of my egg eaters on craigslist for free, and now they're someone else's problem.

Hi Jen,
While this isn't exactly what you were posting about, I would double check your chicken's diet if they are eating their eggs.

My experience with egg eaters (and many others), is that the egg eating stops when you supplement calcium. This seems to show a calcium deficiency. Once I started supplementing some free choice oyster shells, they stopped eating the eggs.

Now, it IS normal for the chickens to eat eggs that get cracked, but it is NOT normal to eat unbroken eggs. If you have a lot of broken eggs, either your nesting boxes are not setup right... or there is probably a calcium deficiency making thin shells. Another theory is that the chickens are not getting enough protein and eat the eggs to recoup the protein.

So for me, and many other people, changing the diet of the chickens, stopped them from eating eggs. I personally believe this is always the problem, but I cannot prove anything beyond my own flock. I disagree with the theory that chickens get curious, accidentally crack and egg, and then get a taste for it. Maybe there are some crazy chickens like this, but I'm not convinced.

Peter E Johnson wrote:My grandpa said that chickens were stupid enough to drown in the rain. I had a chicken that would move her nest every time I took her eggs. She would always put her nests in the prickliest bushes in my yard. I got the smart idea to give her some fake wood eggs for her to sit on. It worked for a week or two, and then she started rolling the fake eggs out of her nest. I put her and one of my egg eaters on craigslist for free, and now they're someone else's problem.

My easter egger is like that too and she won't be fooled by fake ceramic egg. I make sure there is one of her egg in the nest. She can't count more than one. Sometimes there are possums coming out at night and eat the egg. The next day I will hear her calling really loud in a distinctive sound I guess she is angry and cursing. The rooster will help her find another nest. It can take me several days to locate the nest again.

Egg eating has been a problem for chicken keepers for as long as there have been chickens being kept. Egg eating starts when a hen finds a cracked egg and investigates. It grows logically from there.
Yes, it can be triggered by a calcium, protein, or some other deficiency, or a hungry hen who couldn't be bothered to look for food. There are also chickens who just like eating eggs.

Try to provide calcium free choice. I also provide dried (baked) egg shells that I crunch up so they are easier to eat. I try to watch and see if I'm having problems with any sort of egg eating predator. Rodents are big on egg eating, as are rat snakes. I don't mind "paying" the rat snakes a few eggs every now and then, but I watch to see where they're getting in because they'll take chicks, too.
See if adding protein helps. A small bag of cat food might make the difference and stop the problem.
Offering leafy greens can help, depending on your situation.

I use wooden eggs, ceramic eggs, golf balls, and interesting, vaguely egg-shaped rocks in my nesting areas. My older birds seem to like the assorted fake eggs and some of them will kick the fake eggs out of their nests, but only when they're broody and trying to save space. I've had hens gather all the fake eggs in the area, which is always fun and funny.

As far as I can tell through past experiences, the best you can do is try to monitor your laying birds to keep random egg eating low. I gather eggs once a day and will be gathering, or at least checking the nests, two to three times a day when I fill my incubator. I have heard all sorts of thing to prevent or retrain egg eating. There are such advice as taking a blown out egg and filling it with spices (chickens don't have tastebuds), or using roll-away nesting boxes, assorted fake eggs, and nest box drapes. I figure all advice works for somebody some of the time which is why it keeps making the rounds, much like all the "cures" you hear for hiccoughs.

If you find that additions to their diet don't help and you can't change her behavior, you may have a hen who just likes to eat eggs. All you can do at that point is accept it, rehome her, or cull.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your comments.  I'm almost positive my girls are not calcium deficient, and relatively certain they are getting enough protein.  I have two dry feeders that I keep food in. The dry is normally organic egg laying pellets it has 16% protein, and I forget the calcium, but its a complete diet.  In the morning they get fermented grains. I change it up a little each time I make it because I think since chickens are foragers by nature, cooped up chickens should get a variety.  Right now the mix is whole wheat, barley, black oil sunflower seeds, flax seeds, milo, soybean meal, a little oregano and corn.  They get 4 cups of fermented grains each morning for 17 birds.  There is a tray that always has oyster shells in it.  As treats they get meal worms, and lots of stuff from my organic garden. Plus I grew sweet potato on the back fence they eat the leaves as soon as they can reach them.   About a month ago I switched the dry feed to an All-in-one feed. It has the same amount of calcium as the layer pellets, but 20% protein. I was adding dried crumbled egg shells to this as well. The change was because several of the hens were molting.  This change in diet didn't change there behavior in any way.  In addition the egg shells are pretty tough. The barn cat gets cracked, totally gross, or just because eggs. I have to crack them for it because if they aren't already cracked the eggs will bounce and roll and not brake when I toss it on the ground.

The nesting boxes may contribute to the problem.  I have been trying to figure out how to make them better.  They are slanted forward and there's an area the eggs are suppose to roll into that the chicken can't get.  I think I need to raise  the part that goes over them because the larger eggs do get stuck.  This is an easy fix.  The other thing I would like to do is put some kind of flap that makes it so the hens can't see the egg in the collection area.  This is a hard one. It needs to be hard enough the chickens wont eat it or pull it apart, but flexible enough to let the egg roll through.  I have checked into the roll a way nesting boxes.  A friend has one and swears by it. It is so expensive it is way out of my budget.

I could be wrong, but with this group of hens I believe its behavior.  I need to work on my nesting boxes, I've been trying to make sure I get the eggs as often as I can, and now that it's fall I have a lot less growing and I can let them out of there chicken yard more often for an adventure, and other snacks and bugs.  Maybe it will help.

This is a problem I have been working on for a while.  Mostly I posted this because in spite of my disappointment, and frustration that it didn't work I'm impressed how quickly they figured out that they were fake eggs, and not worth there time.  I'm the one that learned a lesson.

I'd agree with your diagnosis of learned behaviour, Jen. That's been my experience in over half a century around chickens. All it takes is one to start the trend and before long others will pick up the habit. I've dealt with it harshly in some cases (spotting the hen with yolk on her facial feathers and culling her or moving her on with ample warning to the new owners), and have also had a few instances of success with vigilance and prompt cleanup any time there was a broken egg.

Good hygiene around feeding helps. I never feed eggs or shells in identifiable form...the shells are always charred and crushed fine before the chickens get them. If we feed leftover or spoiled eggs, they always get mixed in with other scraps.

I think it comes down to calm birds and luck as much as anything. Right now I'm on a multi-year streak of no egg eaters (I probably just jinxed myself big time by typing that).

Another thing I've seen in the past occurred when a bird or two were being pestered or chased by more dominant birds any time they tried to access the feeder.  Solution: in some situations, it's good to have two feeders!

It's been implied but not clearly stated that chickens, being smart, sometimes get bored and that could also contribute to the habit getting started.

However, I agree with the sentiments that sometimes it's just plain bad luck!

As for the fake eggs, I had Ravens sneaking into certain shelters and stealing eggs. I hadn't realized the problem and I'd put a couple of rather expensive goose-sized eggs in spots I wanted the geese to lay. Alas.... who knows where the Ravens took them??? I did find one randomly dropped in the field.