Dropping eggs from roost

[1QueenBee]

I seem to have a hen that has recently been apparently just laying an egg while on the roost instead of in the box fairly frequently. One thought I've had is that shortly before this started, I had a hen lay an egg about the size of an ostrich egg and maybe she has lost some control as a result?...or what?...Thoughts? Thanks!!

 

[Alaskan]

I have never had a hen do that on a regular basis.

Is it still happening?

I guess I would try to put half balls in the nest boxes.

 

[cafarmgirl]

What are the eggs like? Any very thin shelled eggs or shell-less eggs? I've had a few hens do this over the years and it always heralded the beginning of egg laying issues/problems for the hens. Things just started not working right, eggs started coming at odd times, like at night, and things just went downhill from there. Just something to think about. Impossible to say what's going on with your particular bird, it could be a completely benign reason, but that's what my experience has been.

 

[1QueenBee]

Thanks for the feedback!

It hasn't happened for awhile now...probably not since I posted the original message. I'm not certain, but I do think the shells were not very thick. I do give my girls oyster shell, but still seem to get some thin shells from some of my Red Stars. They've only been laying for about a year now, so it seems a bit early to be having problems...yet I do still wonder if they are starting to. Some of the eggs have been a bit oddly shaped, as well as thin shelled. I stepped into the coop yesterday and found one of the Red Stars in the box laying, while her best friend R.S. stayed in there to give her encouragement it seemed. She layed the egg while I was there, and once she was done in the nest box her friend was done too. I think she is the one that has layed a couple of ostrich sized eggs (which had two complete -yolk and white- eggs inside, not just two yolks!), and likely the one that dropped the eggs from the roost.