egg laying on the roost

[jtrknit]

Hello, does anyone have an idea why our Golden Comet is apparently laying eggs in her sleep? She will be 1 yr in May and has laid us lovely eggs, in the nest, for 2 months or more. Now, these last two weeks, she drops a pre-dawn egg under the roost. Sometimes it is a soft shell, sometimes not. We always rescue it before the hens leave the roost to prevent egg eating. She acts perfectly normal, only does not sit in the nest boxes any more, and as we have 4 boxes for 6 hens, there is ample room.

 

[looptloop]

My EE does this. The shells are also very thin. I think they 'sneak' up on her and she lays from the roost!

 

[jtrknit]

Thanks, looptloop---has yours been doing this a long time, and does it worry you? I wasn't sure if I should just accept it as a new part of her dizzy personality.

 

[AllCoop'dUp]

Iv'e had this happen a couple of times. I have about 40 hens - I've sort of lost count. I had a RIR who delibertly went to the highest roost and laid her eggs. There are 17 nest boxes and I have NO idea why she decided that was more appropriate. I ended up having to cover up the roosting area with a metal door made from metal roofing to keep the hens from going back up on the roosts to lay eggs during the day. I find it pretty interesting that some days there are hens waiting in line for a particuliar nestbox., when there are others that have never been occupied. I counted 12 eggs in one nest and have seen 3 hens crowd their way in to lay. Must be location...location..location!!