egg laying at night

[chicky1016]

Several times now since I've had my chickens (about 6 mos), I have gone to open up the coop in the morning and there has been an egg under the roosts that was layed during the night. It's not always the same hen either, this time it was my auricana. I went out there a few min ago (6:45 am), and the egg was warm. So it was just layed. and they're not always warm either so it happens at all times.This wouldn't be a problem for me except for the fact that the egg is usually cracked because it's dropped from the roost. Why are my chickens doing this?

 

[Pork Pie]

I'd say it's because they are young and they haven't sorted out their plumbing just. I have the same issue and have done in the past. They will soon sort themselves out, don't worry.

Cheers
Ct

 

[GodofPecking]

Happened with mine in the months after i got them, and less and less as time goes on.

 

[Peeps61]

I've had chickens for a few years now, and my observations are that young chickens will drop eggs from the roost, but it does get better over time. If the eggs break, they are eaten, but the birds don't bother the eggs in the nest or if the egg on the ground is unbroken.

Orphingtons are typically lower in the pecking order, so she may not be getting "nest time" when she needs to lay her eggs and they are making their appearance later on - I've had the wind blow the gate shut on the coop, and by the time I get out there to open it back up, there is a line of hens waiting to dash into the nesting area to lay their eggs, so they DO have some control over when they lay them, if they've had some practice.

She may also just have a glitch in her timing that will adjust in a few weeks.

 

[Ameraucanas]

I have no idea, sorry.

 

[aart]

Describe your flock, coop and nests.
Could be a crowding and/or pecking order thing.

 

[Chapel Hill Chicks]

I've been looking for an answer to why one of my hens keeps laying an egg during the night, off of the roost, but I can't find anything definitive, so here's my addition to the puzzle. I have a Buff Orpington who starting dropping eggs during the night about a month or two ago. There's an available nesting box in the coop, so not having access isn't an issue. I haven't added any new birds to the mix, either. Because she's an Orpington, she does tend to get bossed around by the other breeds, and she's a favorite of my rooster, since she's so submissive. Any ideas why she's stopped laying in the nesting boxes like the other hens do? Her best buddy, a Speckled Sussex, has never had an egg accident in the night, and she even takes up for her from time to time if a middle-range pecking order hen picks on her.

Should I assume it's the lack of daylight hours, or maybe the gradual increase in daylight hours, that has her timing off? She's the smallest Orpington I've ever owned, and she's about a year old now. I've had several Orpingtons in the past but never had this problem. Could it be an illness or parasite causing her nighttime drops?

My biggest concern is that if I don't get out to the coop at the crack of dawn to let them out, one of the hens inevitably ends up eating the egg, since it usually (but not always) cracks. The last thing I want is a chicken who decides she has a taste for raw eggs.