Daily Egg hunt

[EdistoChicks]

We have not finished our coop yet. My hens stay under the coop and range free all day (after they lay their eggs). For some reason one of my buff orpingtons is set on hiding clutches of eggs. She has no desire to sit on them, just hide them all over the yard. The first clutch was under a tarp covering our lawnmower. The second was under a different spot under the same tarp. The new clutch I found this morning was in my hibiscus plant at my front door. (Talk about breakfast delivery!) I had to laugh. The other orpington lays under the coop. This one just wants a family I guess. I wish I could have her raise some of my hatchlings, she has tried to get nasty with every baby I have showed her. What causes this egg hiding behavior? I can't wait until my hubby finishes this darn coop!

 

[flowerfaerie1]

My hens always laid in their nesting boxes until a few weeks ago. My white orpington decided to start hiding her eggs as well! Another hen took her lead and now we are only getting 3 eggs a day instead of 5. It's so frustrating. Last week we found 12 eggs all together under a morning glory plant, but since we took them she found a new place to hide them and we haven't found any. Yesterday I decided they had to stay in the run/coop until they all laid and by 6pm I still only had three eggs! My hens are under lock down again today and they sure aren't happy about it. I'll have to see if I get the 5 today!

I would also be interested to know why my hens would change their behaviour so suddenly.

 

[EdistoChicks]

It must be the broodiness in the orpington breeds. I need to start making a list of where to look. Thankfully it wasn't that hot outside yesterday so I am going to eat the two eggs. It gets bad when you find more eggs and the weather is warm. The funny thing is that the rooster we have (a white leghorn) seems to be encouraging the one hen to do this. He went under the tarp and clucked like crazy after he realized I "stole" the eggs. I hear them out the front door now apparently looking for their eggs. So far out of 1.2 acres they have only picked 3 spots, I hope they don't pull a fast one and start using the kids playset as an egg laying area!