chickens have lost their minds

[WendiJean]

so....

we got 5 chickens last July already full grown and laying, they are free range but come in the coop at night and lay eggs in their boxes

in early March we moved our new little chiclets into the coop with them and all seemed well, but we noticed about 2 wks ago that egg production had slowed down to 1 or 2 a day and we figured it was because of the heat (south TX)

well the hubby found a huge nest of (some very stinky) eggs in the grass next to the house, and then another this morning in the hay pile, guess that explains the eggs slacking off

I would have theorized that the new chiclets made the big hens mad, except the timing is off, bc we were still getting eggs well after the chiclets were introduced

so what in the world would posses these chickens to start laying somewhere else after a year?

forgot to mention, they aren't going broody in the least, they lay their eggs and then just go about their business

anyone have this happen to them, or know what is going on?

forgot to add one more thing, in the nest by the house we also found the first few guinea eggs that just started laying....don't know if that has any impact or not

 

[CMV]

I'm not sure of the explanation for why they do it, but mine have done the same thing at times. I think it's a case of "monkey see, monkey do". If one starts doing it then others will do the same thing. I once found a nest of 17 eggs in the forest. You can try to re-educate them as to where they should be laying by putting golf-balls in the nesting boxes and locking them in their coop/run for a few days. They should start laying in the right place in short order. I didn't bother locking mine up. I just started checking known egg areas in the forest at least once a day. Once there wasn't an enticing pile of eggs just waiting for another egg to be added, my hens stopped using the forested areas and started using the nesting boxes again.

Good luck.

 

[Chickenpoor]

Quote:
You are probably right about the monkey see, monkey do. They probably saw the guineas lay there and thought that it must be a good place to lay since the guineas layed there and then also decided to lay there. My hens did the same thing when our guineas made a nest in brush pile.

 

[WendiJean]

Thanks, I figured that seeing the guineas lay there might have triggered it. We locked them up all day yesterday, we'll see at the end of the day if they are using the boxes or not, if not I guess we will just keep them cooped over the weekend and see.

 

[Stingrayg4]

I keep mine in an enclosed run, which is pretty large. Occasionally the ladies find a spot that I won't notice and start laying there. When egg production goes down, I start looking for the hidden nest.

-S

 

[metaluno67]

Our first four hens were given to us and he swore they laid well. They were free ranged, well for two weeks we had no eggs. About 4 months later we found a bush with 40 eggs under it. Needless to say they were put in a fenced area. They will lay where they feel its safe for the eggs that's how it was explained to me.