Can chickens lay eggs at night !!

[Jean01]

Hi

One of my hens is laying her egg at night. First she was not creating a hard shell only the soft sack, but now a hard shell has been created but it very thin and fragile.

I feed my hens laying mash, scratch mix and they have shell grit.
I have also been putting cod liver oil in there laying mash.

We got these hens from a battery farm and I think he sells the chickens that are not up to standards of a working chicken - if you understand what I mean. As I have another chicken that has trouble at times making enough calcuim to create a hard shell egg!

I spoil them terribly so I hope they have forgotten that terrible place we rescued them from

The main question is "Can chickens lay at night" and why??

I hope someone on BYC can give me some advice please

Thanks

Jean01

 

[rowan1]

why? i don't know. but yes chickens can lay at any time of day. though mine don't lay too frequently during the night. sometimes i find an egg on the roost, that's where i usually find the occasional soft-shelled egg

 

[BBK]

mine lay in the late afternoon. I always thought they did it in the morning or late morning.
never heard of a night layer, but why not?

Melinda

 

[BroomFarm]

This is sad to say, but maybe because of the conditions she was bred and raised in, your chicken is still not sure what "day time" is? I mean, those battery hens never see the light of day, unless it's maybe through a distant window.

I didn't see where you are giving them oyster shell but that seems to be the prescription of choice for soft eggs. Hopefully as your girls get used to the good life their productivity, health and timing will all improve!

 

[MIKE555444]

Even though it doesn't seem very comfortable I believe chickens have "some" control much like we stop ourselves from wetting the bed lol

I was doing some work on the chicken house this weekend and my pullet kept coming to the chicken house singing her egg song... I had to finish blocking the opening before I could let her in. After about 1 hr of her singing I took a break and she ran in and layed her egg quickly and I got back to work.

So on a healthy pullet/hen I would say she can regulate her laying to some degree so she will lay at least during the day time....

 

[mlm1965]

mine are not laying yet, but you might want to give them a little apple cider vinegar. Everything I read, they will absorb more calcium that way!

 

[Hopefully]

Mine lay in the early early morning and then around evening. But I'm sure they can still lay at night.

 

[vnploveschickens]

How long have you had these hens? They maybe just adjusting to their new living conditions. You might want to put some fake eggs or golf balls in their nesting boxes to give them the idea of where to lay their eggs.
Like BroomFarm also mentioned, oyster shell in a separate dish for them to peck at, free choice, will help build calcium in their bodies for stronger bones and eggshells. Put apple cider vinegar, the one with the "mother" in it will help with gut flora, etc. (But use ACV in a plastic waterer, not metal.) Do a search on ACV. There is a ton of info.

 

[FalcoSparverius]

Sometimes we get an egg in the late evening/night. I don't know why. And our pullets we raised from chicks.

Ask not why the chicken crossed the road, but why the road got in the way of the chicken.

 

[FURSANDFEATHERS]

I have 5 White Rock hens that I adopted. I was told they were a year old. They didn't lay for several months. They are finally starting to lay regularly and yes some at night. Like your birds they were not well cared for by their previous owner. It took me almost four months to regulate their health. I read on this forum sometime back that probiotics and calcium are extremely important for consistant egg production. One member said that feeding plain yogurt as a probiotic and recycling egg shells for calcium. I did both of these and my girls are happy and healthy.

Yogurt---one cup in a pie pan every four days for two weeks.

Egg shells---I save my shells in a sealed container in the frig and once a week I microwave the shells let them cool. After they cool put them in a food processor and grind to a fine consistency. I add this to their feed at least twice a week. Use oyster shell if you don't want to fuss with the eggs.

Good luck