Fairy egg annoying easter hunt

[CabritaChicks]

Apologies for pestering—just had a couple of questions.

I have a small mixed flock with a rooster and hens, currently 18 and 13 weeks old. Since hatching, they’ve transitioned from the living room brooder to a temporary coop, and now into their final coop setup.

Before we moved them to the final coop, one egg was laid in the temporary setup.

We're also in the middle of some major construction, building a guesthouse for Airbnb. Despite the noise and activity, the chickens seem completely unfazed, and in fact like to visit the construction team to my dismay. However, they’ve claimed the coolest area on the property—a shaded alcove that leads to our avian hurricane shelter—as their preferred hangout (which makes sense given the hot and humid Caribbean weather).

About the eggs:
So far since the move to the new coop, in the last two days, we’ve had three fairy eggs (tiny, “fart eggs”):

• One in the roost
• One in the alcove below the home
• One on the ground in the run

Here is a image of all the locations:

Not a single one has been laid in the nest boxes.
The nest boxes are clean, roomy (13x13 inches), and we have three boxes for 6.5 chickens. I’ve even lined them with herbs they're used to—rose petals, lemongrass, calendula, thyme, rosemary, etc.—to make them as inviting and familiar as possible.

What I’ve done with the fairy eggs so far:

• Ate the first one.
• Gave the second back to the chickens (they ate it with gusto).
• Placed the third into the nest box as a kind of "hint" or encouragement today.

The alcove they like will be fenced off by the end of the week, so they won’t have access much longer.

My hens don’t seem to realize they’re going to lay. There’s no pacing or searching for a spot—they just make a little noise, suddenly squat, and bam! out comes an egg, mid-play.

My questions:

1. Is this behavior normal?
   They’re basically playing and then squatting —no buildup, no nesting signs.
2. Why aren’t they using the nesting boxes?
   I’ve done a lot of reading and prep, but I’m stumped. Everything seems in place, but they’re laying randomly.
3. Is it just their age? They are young RIR's.

 

[DonyaQuick]

The behavior is quite normal! Occasionally you get the odd pullet who is an instant natural at the egg thing, but mostly they have to figure it out over time. Some take longer than others to figure it out. Although quite the oddball, I did have one hen who took well over 6 months of laying to figure out that eggs should go in nest boxes and not in random nooks in the coop and run. Most figure it out in a few weeks though.

Try putting some fake ceramic eggs in the nests to encourage them to lay there. I find fake eggs are safer than real ones while pullets are learning if they don't have older ladies to teach them, since they may peck at eggs out of curiosity or push them out and break them by accident.

Do you see them explore the nest boxes at all? Little dark spaces should be at least somewhat appealing to them if they're starting to lay. But if there's something about the nest box that they find uncomfortale or spooky, they will put those eggs literally anywhere else.

The only thing that sticks out to be as possibly not normal is the multiple fairy eggs. Are they just tiny fully formed eggs? If so, that's fine - but proper fairy eggs often have no yolk and are more of an "oops" in the egg system than just a small starter egg. If I had new layer pullets laying a string of those tiny yolk-less eggs that would be somewhat of a worry if it continued.

 

[FrostRanger]

It's possible the eggs are so small they don't realize they have to lay. I would place a few fake eggs or golf balls in the nest box

 

[CabritaChicks]

The behavior is quite normal!

Try putting some fake ceramic eggs in the nests to encourage them

Do you see them explore the nest boxes at all?

The only thing that sticks out to be as possibly not normal is the multiple fairy eggs. Are they just tiny fully formed eggs?

Thanks for the response!
'Opps" factor- had me rolling laughing.

I’ll definitely take both suggestions into account. I actually found a golf ball on the beach the other day, so I’ll go ahead and toss that into the nest box. I’m not sure how long it’ll take for ceramic eggs to arrive out here, but I’ll place an order now just in case.

1. Yes, they do explore the nest boxes pretty often—so at least they know they’re there.
2. Interestingly, the eggs do have yolks, they are just really small (little less than half the size of what I assume they should be)—the two I cracked open had beautiful orange yolks. The third egg I moved into the nest box to hopefully give them a gentle nudge. You’re absolutely right, though—they're just immature and still figuring it out. And unfortunately, I’m not exactly nest-box sized, so I can’t model the process for them!

 

[FrostRanger]

Thanks for the response!
'Opps" factor- had me rolling laughing.

I’ll definitely take both suggestions into account. I actually found a golf ball on the beach the other day, so I’ll go ahead and toss that into the nest box. I’m not sure how long it’ll take for ceramic eggs to arrive out here, but I’ll place an order now just in case.

1. Yes, they do explore the nest boxes pretty often—so at least they know they’re there.
2. Interestingly, the eggs do have yolks, they are just really small (little less than half the size of what I assume they should be)—the two I cracked open had beautiful orange yolks. The third egg I moved into the nest box to hopefully give them a gentle nudge. You’re absolutely right, though—they're just immature and still figuring it out. And unfortunately, I’m not exactly nest-box sized, so I can’t model the process for them!

If you have golf balls no need to order ceramic eggs unless you just want to, the golf balls will work just fine

 

[FrostRanger]

Also if you do order ceramic eggs, get eggs in a color no one in your flock lays so you don't grab a fake by mistake when collecting actual eggs, failing that mark the fakes with a sharpie or something

 

[CabritaChicks]

Also if you do order ceramic eggs, get eggs in a color no one in your flock lays so you don't grab a fake by mistake when collecting actual eggs, failing that mark the fakes with a sharpie or something

Good call! I don't have a sports store here. So I have one lonely beach golf ball. I have a rainbow of colors of eggs (in theory), so marking them is a great idea, just like I had to do with parrots. Ah the strange joys of raising birds by humans.

Brings up a question: do chickens know the color that they lay?

 

[FrostRanger]

Good call! I don't have a sports store here. So I have one lonely beach golf ball. I have a rainbow of colors of eggs (in theory), so marking them is a great idea, just like I had to do with parrots. Ah the strange joys of raising birds by humans.

Brings up a question: do chickens know the color that they lay?

If they do, most don't seem to care all that much

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Also if you do order ceramic eggs, get eggs in a color no one in your flock lays so you don't grab a fake by mistake when collecting actual eggs, failing that mark the fakes with a sharpie or something

Ours now have Xs in Sharpie, after one-of-us-not-me spent an extended time trying to crack one on the side of the skillet.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I favor golf balls mostly because you don't even need to look at them to know it's not an egg, the dimpling is a giveaway even if you're grabbing eggs from underneath a hen.