Help..... How do you stop hen laying from roost?

[Delight30]

1 of my 5 hens is laying from the roost. I think I know which one based on the color of the egg, but she stated out using the nest boxes and now for the last 4 or 5 days has been dropping eggs from the roost. What can I do to get her using the boxes again?

 

[Judy]

Usually that happens only with pullets who are very new to laying, or when they lay soft shelled eggs, maybe because they don't feel it coming soon enough. Is she at the lower end of the pecking order, maybe being chased off the nest?

 

[Delight30]

She is young, but as far as pecking order, she lays in a completely different nest box from the other girls, who share 2. I have 5 boxes out there, for a total of 10 girls right now, only 5 of which are laying. I know the amount is overkill, but we will soon have 15 hens. I am impatiently waiting for my EE to start laying. We have been lucky that none of the eggs have broken, but just wondering if there is something we can do. Not happy about getting a poop covered egg.

Thank you for your reply

 

[Judy]

You don't mention using golf balls (sand filled plastic easter eggs also work fine) in the nests, though it's so common, you probably already do this. If by chance you don't, it's probably worth a try. It's supposed to send the message that this is a good place to lay.

I wish I could think of something else to suggest! Maybe as the others come into lay, it will shake things up a bit, and the behavior will change. I hope so.

 

[Delight30]

Thank you.... yes we use plastic eggs in the nest boxes. I hope she is just going through a cycle change and will get back to her routine soon. She use to lay around 7:00 - 7:30 each morning, but the eggs on the ground before that now. Maybe it is to dark for her to leave to roost to get to her nest box?

 

[Judy]

That's the thing, they don't ordinarily lay at night. The cycle is 25 hours. So they lay a bit later each day, then skip a day and start over again the next morning. Or so the book says.

If she keeps it up, I would wonder whether she has some problem with her reproductive system. As you say, let's hope time will be all she needs to get adjusted to a "normal" pattern.

 

[Delight30]

Thank you so much... but she is still laying from the roost. I went out at 7:00 am and the egg was cold. It was still dark in my coop and I am wondering if she is laying between 5:30 am to 6:30 am and is having a hard time seeing..... She has not skipped a day yet and her eggs are a good size and normal looking. I am thinking about getting a timer to hook up to a light and have it go on at 5:00 am and see if that takes care of it.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Thank you so much... but she is still laying from the roost. I went out at 7:00 am and the egg was cold. It was still dark in my coop and I am wondering if she is laying between 5:30 am to 6:30 am and is having a hard time seeing..... She has not skipped a day yet and her eggs are a good size and normal looking. I am thinking about getting a timer to hook up to a light and have it go on at 5:00 am and see if that takes care of it.

This. Give it a try.

 

[Delight30]

Found a remote control LED light to put in our coop. YEA! turning the light on at 5:30 each morning has made all the difference, my hen is now laying in the next box after 2 month of letting them drop from the roost. She lays between 5:30 and 6:30 each day and now that she can see to get to the next box she is laying them in there. Just wanted to update everyone in case this may help someone else.

 

[MaddiesMum]

That's awesome! Hopefully it will continue to help and she won't go back to her old ways. I'll have to keep this trick in mind for when I get birdies again, just in case!