Laying after lock up

GOTchickens1978

In the Brooder
Dec 27, 2016
39
5
19
For two days straight I have found a cold egg first thing in the morning around 8ish, when I let the ladies out of the coop. I do one last egg check and lock up at around 5pm and sunsets have been about 5:30ish. I know one girl lays first thing in the morning at 8:39 and she is usually the first one in there. So the cold egg has to be laid after lock up right? Is this normal? They've only been laying for 2 weeks...
 
Could be at night, but my guess is it's an early bird....literally. I have a few birds that are up with the dawn, laying and telling the entire world about their very fine accomplishment, bright and early. Puts my roosters to shame.

I'd think if the birds are laying after dusk, you'd be finding eggs under the roost, not in a nest box.
 
My 5 nine month old pullets lay between 5am and 9am most days. I open the coop and turn on the lights at 5am. 1 pullet sometimes 2 are already in the nest as the girls on the lower roost can find their way to the nest boxes in the dark
400
or a pullet from the upper roost is making a beeline there, when I turn on the light.
I have found up to 3 eggs in the nest at 5am, usually 1, the past two days no eggs at 5am. I check for eggs at lockup, a half hour after sunset. This is a photo at 5am looking through the window.GC
Edited: I check for eggs also around 9am. I didn't mention that in this post. That's how I can give a timeline.
 
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"they say" that it takes 25 hours for an egg to exit the ovary and make it's way to the nest box. Of course that's an approximation. But, taking this theory into account, the hen who lays an egg at 6 AM today, may lay her next egg at 7 AM tomorrow, and on and on until she eventually lays her egg just before going to roost. She'll then, typically skip a day, and start the cycle all over, with the next egg being laid very early the following morning. I went out just before dark, and found one of my girls in the nest box. I chose not to disturb her. Now, 1/2 hour later, I just heard someone singing an egg song. I expect there will be an egg when I go out to shut the pop door for the night.
 
"they say" that it takes 25 hours for an egg to exit the ovary and make it's way to the nest box.  Of course that's an approximation.  But, taking this theory into account, the hen who lays an egg at 6 AM today, may lay her next egg at 7 AM tomorrow, and on and on until she eventually lays her egg just before going to roost.   She'll then, typically skip a day, and start the cycle all over, with the next egg being laid very early the following morning.  I went out just before dark, and found one of my girls in the nest box.  I chose not to disturb her.  Now, 1/2 hour later, I just heard someone singing an egg song.  I expect there will be an egg when I go out to shut the pop door for the night.
From my experience my Golden Comets blow out that theory. I get 32-35 eggs a week from my five girls. Last month I got 149 eggs. They are sex-links so that could cause their behavior. GC
Edited my previous post to say I check for eggs around 9am. That's how I can give a timeline
 
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Quote: That's why I said "they say...." While in theory, it's kind of almost accurate... chickens don't read the theory books, nor do they always play by the rules. Some birds, like your comets lay 6 - 7 eggs/week, while other birds, even at their peak production only lay 3 eggs/week. I once observed a home bred BSL lay 3 eggs in a 24 hour period. I watched her lay 2 rubber eggs within 5 minutes of each other. The following morning, she laid a normal egg.
 
No one? Am I getting this totally wrong? Is it being laid supper early in the morning? Today I didn't lock up til 6pm and no egg...
 
No one? Am I getting this totally wrong? Is it being laid supper early in the morning? Today I didn't lock up til 6pm and no egg...

No one can really answer this as it *could* be either one -- your bird may be laying at some point during the night or she may just be a real early bird who gets her egg laying out of the way before the day has even really started. Especially with new layers, such as yours, it takes time for them to fall into a regular pattern in their production - all those moving parts involved in putting the egg together and expelling it are still figuring out how to work together....this can lead to all sorts of wonky variances in their laying.
 
No one? Am I getting this totally wrong? Is it being laid supper early in the morning? Today I didn't lock up til 6pm and no egg...
You had four people answer you - what more are you looking for? If it's not being laid in the evening, then it's likely being laid very early in the morning. There aren't many more options.
 
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