chicken laying eggs on perch!!

[lauraclaire]

HELP!! I'm new here and have a question. I have 6 pullets that just started laying this week (YEAH!!). The first egg was a beautiful light brown with dark speckles. The next 2 have been a solid dark brown. My problem is that the last 2 eggs have been found on the floor under their perch. I'm thinking whoever laid them did so from the perch which is about 4 feet off the ground. I use the deep litter method which has cushioned the egg somewhat but both of the eggs have had cracks in them. Is this behavior something that will stop as the girls become more experienced at laying?

 

[chickflick]

Put fake eggs or golf balls in the nest boxes so they get the idea that's where they are suppose to lay their eggs.
Sometimes when their "clock" is off, they lay during the night when its dark and they can't see to get off the roost to get to the nest. That will take a few days to correct itself. Either way, it'll work out eventually.

 

[Kacey's Krazee's]

welcome !!


Welcome to BYC!!!

Your Gonna love this place !!!

 

[skywatcher]

Chickflick is correct this is normal nutty chicken behavior.

 

[Novice Chic]

And welcome. This is an amzaing place for advice!

This has been happening to me also, but only with one pullet. She was the first to lay out of the bunch. She had started off laying real late in the morning and then one day there was one less egg in the nests. I knew it was her that hadn't laid that day. The next morning when I went out sure enough she had laid through the night directly under the roost. She carried on that way for a week or so. Now I'm happy to say all eggs are where they should be

I just LOVE my girls!!

 

[lauraclaire]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice! I am so glad to hear that this is normal. I am pretty sure I heard the "egg song" when the girls were getting ready for bed last night so maybe that's when the egg was laid. I do have golf balls in the nesting boxes although I don't see any of the girls showing much interest in them. I'll give it some more time. We are all so new to this! Thanks again for the advice. This is a fantastic group and I have learned so much since I found it!

 

[gsim]

It is normal for some to start that way. I had two that were dropped from the roost the first week of laying. O another occasion during first week of eggs, one came up to me in pen and squatted down and layed her egg at my feet! Like chick flick says, golf balls in each nest does the trick. I have had 3 weeks now since first egg and no more on floor. Mine started at 16 weeks, one a day and went to 2 a day in 17th week. Now at 19th week am getting 3 a day. My nest boxes are at 24" ht, equal to lower perch . Higher perch is 48" and all but two or three of my 24 are there at dusk when I close the guillotine doors for the night.

 

[Kim_NC]

Yep, fairly common in new layers. We had a couple do that this week.

We keep golf balls and plastic eggs in our nest boxes. It does help. But it also takes some of them a little while to figure out where to put their eggs. This week I had an Ameraucana start to lay (first one in her age group). First egg - outside, under the ladder to their pop door. Next 2 - center of the coop floor. Next - under the nest boxes. Today she got it right - I found her pretty little blue pullet egg in a nest box, right beside a blue plastic egg.

You're going to love being a chicken owner. There's always something to learn....and they're always coming up with something to surprise you.

 

[lauraclaire]

Thank you all for the info. I finally found out which of my girls is responsible for the eggs I have been finding under their perch. It's my black sex link and the reason I know this is because she laid her egg in one of the nesting boxes today!!! Yippee! Some of the other chickens were looking on with interest but she is the only one actually laying right now. I have hopes that seeing her in the box will trigger something in her coop mates. Two or three of them (I have 6) were standing outside the box looking at her like they were thinking.."so THAT'S what these things are for!!!" Anyway, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will soon be getting more than one egg a day. Thanks again for the help and support, you guys are great!

 

[chickflick]