BUMMER

[JimnJanet]

My 8 girls used to use thier two nest boxes religiously every day. until now that is. I jist found this near their dust spot next to the house.

At first, they only used one nest box. I put a glass egg in the 2nd one and they immediately began to use it. I was just outside takin some pics of my girls in thier dust bath ritual and i found this very near by.I know none of these were laid yesterday because Janet collected 8 eggs from the nests. The day before, she got 7, day before that she got 4, 7's and 8's prior to that so i have no clue how long this/these bird(s) have been doin this. From what i've read i don't see any way to prevent this now that it has begun. My question, how do i know if these eggs are still edible? Daytime temps have been in the mid to high 60's here fer the past week er so, with night temps in the mid 40's to low 50's.
I was jist thinking. I have seen times when both boxes were occupied by girls in there layin thier eggs and one or two other girls were waiting in line for thier turn. I will be building a new bigger coop in the next week er so and if i increase the number of nest boxes to say 3 er 4 wil this maybe put a stop to the outside egg layin ?

 

[SHELLY]

First of all, throw out the eggs. Better to be safe than sorry.

Second, disturb the area to make it a less desirable place to lay. Pile some sticks there.

Is there any way you can keep the girls inside the coop until later in the morning? Sometimes that helps remind them where they are supposed to lay.

I find eggs outside of the coop once in a while. I don't keep them unless I checked that same spot the day before. Mostly my girls lay inside but if egg production seems to really slow down, I leave them locked in for a day or two.

Good luck.

 

[wegotchickens]

My Grandpa would tell you to eat those eggs if he were alive.

Put them in a large bowl of water. If they float, throw them out. If they sink, you can eat them. If you're still nervous, boil them & smush them and feed them back to the birds.

 

[eggzettera]

Quote:
I concur, that is the established way of checking......

 

[JimnJanet]

The floaty testy thingy it is.
And i still don't believe yer a meany Nadine

 

[JimnJanet]

WOO HOO.... all sinkers, dropped like rocks

Thanx Shelly for the muckin up the layin sight advice.