Do your hens lay STANDING UP???

[msgenie516]

Hi,

My girls are driving me CRAZY! On numerous occasions, I have witnessed them laying an egg standing up! And there it goes, PLOP! And it is not only one particular hen, several have been doing it. They are in different coops, so it is not that they are copying each other.

This keeps me very busy, as I have to CONSTANTLY monitor the nests to make sure they haven't kicked out too much hay/straw. I have already lost some eggs because they broke from hitting the hard surface at the bottom of the nest. And, OF COURSE, they were some of my nicest, largest eggs. Wouldn't you know!

Well, at least they don't poop in the nests they lay in (or is it that they don't lay in the nests with poop?)

Does anyone else have silly hens like this? Genie

 

[pips&peeps]

They all "stand" up to lay, they have to force that darned egg out of there.

 

[chickflick]

I bought some cheap place mats, the cushioned kind and lined the nest boxes with that so the eggs wouldn't break. It has helped trmendously.

 

[Wynette]

Pips is right; they all lay standing up.

I bought some indoor/outdoor carpet at Home Depot and cut a mat for each nest box, then put shavings over the top. It's worked out GREAT - NO broken eggs, and the "mats" are so easy to clean: I clip them to the horse fence with clothes pins & hose them off, then spray lightly with Oxine solution and let them dry in the sun.

 

[illinichick]

NONE of my brown egg layers stand up to lay. when they're young and first starting to lay, they may have an "accidental" laying in the coop but they all lay in the nest boxes, hunkered down.

 

[gritsar]

Yep, they all do it.
I can't help but laugh at Lilith when I witness her laying. She stands up, she scrunches down and she groans really loud.

I just check the nests each morning to make sure they've all got plenty of hay in them. Haven't had a broken egg yet and only two that have ever been kicked out of the nests.

 

[Wynette]

Gritsar, you HAVE to get Lilith laying on video...THAT would be HILARIOUS!

 

[msgenie516]

Quote:
You are lucky in that yours "scrunch down". Mine stand tall and lay the egg! Genie

 

[digginchicks]

quat down a little bit but they are still dropping the egg a little ways

 

[kwynn's birds Alaska]

Quote:
that's a good idea. i linned the nest boxes with cardboard, then put the straw on top of it. that way there's still a little padding when the egg hits. I had the same prob with broken eggs. It seems to be my Australorps that are doing it.