Solanacae
Crowing
I have an 11-month hen who has been very persnickety lately. If I go out to check the next of boxes too early in the day, like before 2 or 3 in the afternoon, she’ll refuse to lay in the nesting box and will lay it on the floor of the run instead. (Because that is sooo much safer and secluded. 
)
With the lengthening days, all of our hens have been laying later in the day, and so perhaps that has been throwing me off on when I can go collect my eggs, but the number of eggs I’ve been finding on the floor of the run has been increasing to the point that now it’s every time she lays an egg.
I usually wait until I see that she’s out roaming around before I check on the nesting boxes, but today, she was in there for hours. I took some treats out to the rest, hoping she’d come out and have some, but no sign. So I let her be, and then went back out at 5 to find that her egg was on the run floor, cracked open and another hen eating it. She, however, was still in the nesting box and acting decidedly broody. Her comb has been paler than usual but this was the first time I found her setting. So I kicked her out and removed what was left of the egg (not much at that point).
My question is, is she trying to move her eggs somewhere? If so, how do I stop her? I usually find them at the bottom of the ladder that goes up to the coop, often with a cracked shell. (Like I said earlier, it used to be random, but it’s now been the norm for the last two weeks or so.) She gets layer feed and has free access to crushed eggshells/oyster shell, and her eggshells are a nice thickness. I have a 2”-ish lip on my nesting boxes, so nothing rolls out very easy. I do have nesting box curtains, for what that’s worth.
I’m worried that her annoying habit is going to result in me fighting an egg eating problem with the other hens. I don’t have a roo, and will be working on breaking her broodiness. Any suggestions?
) With the lengthening days, all of our hens have been laying later in the day, and so perhaps that has been throwing me off on when I can go collect my eggs, but the number of eggs I’ve been finding on the floor of the run has been increasing to the point that now it’s every time she lays an egg.
I usually wait until I see that she’s out roaming around before I check on the nesting boxes, but today, she was in there for hours. I took some treats out to the rest, hoping she’d come out and have some, but no sign. So I let her be, and then went back out at 5 to find that her egg was on the run floor, cracked open and another hen eating it. She, however, was still in the nesting box and acting decidedly broody. Her comb has been paler than usual but this was the first time I found her setting. So I kicked her out and removed what was left of the egg (not much at that point).
My question is, is she trying to move her eggs somewhere? If so, how do I stop her? I usually find them at the bottom of the ladder that goes up to the coop, often with a cracked shell. (Like I said earlier, it used to be random, but it’s now been the norm for the last two weeks or so.) She gets layer feed and has free access to crushed eggshells/oyster shell, and her eggshells are a nice thickness. I have a 2”-ish lip on my nesting boxes, so nothing rolls out very easy. I do have nesting box curtains, for what that’s worth.
I’m worried that her annoying habit is going to result in me fighting an egg eating problem with the other hens. I don’t have a roo, and will be working on breaking her broodiness. Any suggestions?
