Eggs in droppings tray?

[Chrifister]

Hi,

We have 6 not quite year old hens that have laid 6 eggs a day for us, 9 days out of 10, since they've started laying. Winter didn't seem to bother them. However, at one point early in the winter, I was only getting 5 eggs. When I cleaned the droppings trays that weekend, there were 5 eggs in them. This means that a single hen was laying eggs from her roost. I have no idea which one. After that, I started checking the trays any time I only got 5 eggs and sometimes would find it in the tray, sometimes cracked and sometimes not.

Occasionally, I'll find an egg by their water dish or food dish in front of the nesting boxes and under one of the trays. We have their dishes in the coop by the radiant heater for the winter. This egg is also very dirty. I did notice that they sleep with their faces against the wall and I apparently did not make the trays long enough because their rear ends stick out further than the trays. This results in a nice straight line of droppings. I assume this problem hen is laying an egg that sometimes misses the tray and rolls towards the dishes.

Any way to get her to stop laying from the roost? What is causing it? It seems to be tapering off now but it was a real problem over some parts of the winter. We still get at least 1 egg a week in the tray.

 

[cavemanrich]

Some chickens drop eggs at night. Not much to be able to change that egg laying schedule. Maybe you can extend the tray to catch the eggs, instead of it rolling away.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

Hi,

We have 6 not quite year old hens that have laid 6 eggs a day for us, 9 days out of 10, since they've started laying. Winter didn't seem to bother them. However, at one point early in the winter, I was only getting 5 eggs. When I cleaned the droppings trays that weekend, there were 5 eggs in them. This means that a single hen was laying eggs from her roost. I have no idea which one. After that, I started checking the trays any time I only got 5 eggs and sometimes would find it in the tray, sometimes cracked and sometimes not.

Occasionally, I'll find an egg by their water dish or food dish in front of the nesting boxes and under one of the trays. We have their dishes in the coop by the radiant heater for the winter. This egg is also very dirty. I did notice that they sleep with their faces against the wall and I apparently did not make the trays long enough because their rear ends stick out further than the trays. This results in a nice straight line of droppings. I assume this problem hen is laying an egg that sometimes misses the tray and rolls towards the dishes.

Any way to get her to stop laying from the roost? What is causing it? It seems to be tapering off now but it was a real problem over some parts of the winter. We still get at least 1 egg a week in the tray.

Eggs in droppings tray? That's the norm, right? I hope we can build one on our farm because its gonna make collecting eggs easier.

 

[aart]

Any way to get her to stop laying from the roost? What is causing it? It seems to be tapering off now but it was a real problem over some parts of the winter. We still get at least 1 egg a week in the tray.

There's really no way to 'stop it'....unless the nests are somehow deficient.
Pics of your coop, nests, roosts, might offer a clue.
Could be she's low hen and gets bullied away from the nests?
When do you normally gather eggs and clean the trays?
Is she doing it overnight or during the day?

Eggs in droppings tray? That's the norm, right?

No, it's not the norm.
Dropping trays, or poop boards, are for droppings/poops.

 

[spiritpots]

I have a year old Salmon Faverolle that dropped eggs at night from the roost when she first started laying resulting in cracked and broken eggs. Now that the days are getting longer she generally lays at the very end of the day, often when the other girls are already on the roost. Sometimes after she's laid it's been too dark for her to go up to the roost and she wants to sleep in the nesting box. I don't want her to do that so I physically place her on the roost before I lock up the coop for the night. If for some reason she doesn't lay at the end of the day she now does first thing in the morning and doesn't drop them at night anymore.