Checkens removing off colored eggs from coop

[odysseychicken]

I have three laying hens. They are pretty consistent about which nest box they lay in. They almost always use the same one of the three we have. In the last week I have found two eggs (about a week apart) in their run. Both were near the bottom of the ramp that leads into the coop (about two feet of the ground). When I found the first one I couldn't decide if it was layed in the run or if it was layed in the nest box and then rolled out and down into the run, it was not damaged. The one I found today was cracked and suggested to me that it was rolled out of the coop and not layed in the run. In the past I have found the fake egg that I sometimes keep in the nest box rolled out into the coop (but not all the way into the run). The two eggs this week were also strange because they were very pale. My chickens lay brown eggs but these two were more of an off white.

Does the off color indicate an issue? If so, do the chickens know there is an issue? Or is it just chickens being chickens and doing weird things? If so, why the off color and why just the off color ones removed from coop?

Other things that may or may not be a factor:

- The fake egg that I sometimes use is white so that I can tell the real ones from the fake.

- They don't always roll the fake on out. But have a few times.

- I have three 2 1/2 month old chickens that have been living with them since they were hatched. I don't think they are the ones rolling the eggs out, the big girls keep them in line pretty well.

 

[Pork Pie]

I would not translate shell colour as an issue to be concerned about. As for their behaviour - maybe someone else can help out.

Ct

 

[odysseychicken]

Found another egg in the run today. It was in a part of the run where it would have been impossible for the chickens to move it there from the nest box. So one of them is laying in the run. Not every day but always a lighter color egg. Weird.

 

[Pork Pie]

Chickens can be very wierd. She may be lowest in the pecking order and at one point could not access the nest and so laid in the run. After that, it could have developed into a habit.

Ct

 

[aart]

A lighter egg from a brown layer indicates it didn't get it's final color coating...can be caused by stress or could just be a genetic anomaly.
Egg color can fade as laying cycle progresses, especially darker brown layers.
Laying in the run could be a crowding/bullying issue.
Could be a predator trying to get away with them.
Nests might just not be deep enough for eggs to stay put.

Just some thoughts....and chickens can be weird.
I keep fake egg/golf balls in all the nests all the time, spreads the love and often deters 'favorite nest' conflicts.

How many birds(with ages) total?
How big is coop and run (feet by feet)?