Egg laid out in open?

[rainbowgardens]

I found an egg that had been laid out in the middle of my cement patio. It was cracked.
Why would my hen lay it there?
Do they sometimes not notice it's time?
Now I'm wondering how many more are out there.

 

[cw]

at what time did she lay this egg, are they staying in the coop untill noon?

 

[thechickenchick]

Mine have access to their nests at all times. However once in a while I will find one in the run. I am not sure why this is, but it doesn't happen very often.

 

[basicliving]

Same here - sometimes it seems to just happen. I actually had one jump off a nest to run outside when I threw some scratch down and pop out an egg while she was eating! She never missed a beat.

 

[rainbowgardens]

The egg was laid sometime in the mid afternoon.
The only thing that was different around our yard is that my husband, son and son-in-law were out there in the afternoon. I know the hens don't trust them, for some reason. They also carried two large sheets of plywood through the yard at one point.
Could the hen have popped it out because she was scared, or was too scared to go to the coop?
I'm just worried this might start a trend. I don't want to have to get a blood hound to sniff out the eggs all through the property for me to gather eggs!

 

[Opa]

It not really an unusual occurance and it's nothing to worry about. Think little kid who waited to long. Same principle.

 

[speckledhen]

I have that happen almost daily. One of my little mixed breed hens lays her egg in the nest , then, it sticks in her butt fluff! She walks around with her little egg stuck to her and eventually, it falls off, in the middle of the pen, usually. No one bothers it and we look for it daily.