Any ideas??

[DaveK88]

This is a new one for me. My hens are 2 years old and I also have a 1 year old rooster. Egg production went down over the winter as expected. It started to pick back up after we changed the clocks and the days got longer. as expected. Yesterday I did a thorough coop cleaning and put down fresh shavings. there were no eggs yesterday and only 1 today. Or so I thought. When I went out this afternoon to give them fresh food I noticed 5 eggs on the floor in a little depression made in the shavings. So they all laid 1 egg yesterday and today. 5 on the floor and 1 in the nest box. They have never laid a cluster of eggs on the floor before. They always use the nesting boxes. Does this mean that 1 of them is ready to go broody? I would like to let them hatch out a few chicks on their own. Should I just leave them there and see what happens? Like I said this is a new one on me. Thanks.

 

[BunkyB]

A lot of chicken behavior is monkey see monkey do...If one lays on the floor then others see whats going on and do the same. At the same time you may have a broody hen wanting to do a sit down for a while. I would take the eggs off the floor just so there isn't an accident like one egg smashing another... The hens are used to the nesting boxes so just put the eggs back into a nesting box. Any time one is laid on the floor, put it in a nesting box. Hopefully they will catch on. Maybe a rough winter...lol

If you want to , mark each egg with a marker that you put back into the nesting box...what the heck an X . Check a few times a day to see if there are any additions to the bunch you marked, If yes then someone is using the boxes again. If no then continue the replacing the eggs. For the heck of it too, just in case a hen is broody show them all where the eggs are in the nesting box.

For you, if you want eggs for yourself and are willing to wait to see if a bird is broody, take all the unmarked eggs for yourself and leave the eggs that are marked in the nesting box. Any time after 10 days the eggs will become unfertile anyways. You can then get rid of the marked eggs. If you do have a broody hen and she knows where the eggs are she will recipricate and set on the eggs in the nesting box. Give it a shot...if you want chicks anyways and have eggs for yourself... Mystery may get solved... Steve

 

[DaveK88]

Thanks Steve. I moved the eggs back into the boxes and marked them. Lets see what happens. thanks again.