Goes to nest box then drops outside

[Chookalooks]

I have a young Sussex hen that goes to the box and sits, then comes out of the house and about 5 or more feet out she drops the egg. A lot of times it has some fresh poop on it? I saw her do it once and she was walking then just squatted briefly, dropped it, and carried on. Like she thought she already did it, then all of sudden realised it was still in there! Worried something is wrong. 2 other hens lay beautifully in the box! I

 

[All Henned Up]

Sometimes a few fake eggs will encourage a new layer to lay where you want them to. some people even use golf balls.
Welcome and enjoy BYC!
Steve

 

[roostersandhens]

 

[warner1]

OH! Good to know about the golf balls. We use a couple of fake eggs, but they have their favorite nest. I'm going to add golf balls to the other nests.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome to BYC! The fake eggs / golf balls help a lot. Sometimes it does seem like new layers don't know when they are going to actually lay that egg. If you happen to see one setting you know is leaving and dropping eggs like that, if you can block them in the nest until they lay, that will sometimes help give them the idea of laying in the nest.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Glad to have you join us!!

 

[liz9910]

Welcome to BYC! You may try posting in this thread also: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/18/chicken-behaviors-and-egglaying good luck to you.

 

[drumstick diva]

Does she lay small eggs, maybe they are so easy to pass, she isn't aware of the sensation.

 

[Chookalooks]

Thanks all for the welcome and ideas. I will try them all! I am a first timer with chooks and thought it was all about the eggs. I was so wrong!

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

Glad you joined us! If she's a young layer she probably just need to get the hang of this whole egg laying business, though mind, I once opened and fed my very experienced layers, watched one hen run out, stop, drop an egg, continue running to the food bowl and start eating like nothing happened.