Hen Laid Egg Outside of Coop

[andrinaden]

Hi there!

We have 4 hens who are all about 7 months old. They have been laying beautiful, perfect eggs in their nesting boxes, inside their coop for over a month. This evening we collected three eggs and assumed it was one of the girls time to skip a day. I found her egg in the flower bed as they free range all day. Why would she lay outside of the coop, when she has been laying in the same nesting boxes as her sisters successfully for over a month??

I tried cleaning the coop out tonight and adding fresh mulch with some of my bunnies hay to add some "ambiance".
Hoping for a nesting box with 4 eggs tomorrow

Andrina

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sometimes hens decide they want a secret nest, it's common in free ranging hens. Not much you can do except block her chooses site with a log or rock, or something similar, and hope she goes back to the coop. The other option is to keep them penned up for a few weeks to retrain her to use the boxes.

 

[RodNTN]

X2 @oldhenlikesdogs

My hens do the same thing, and they have been laying in the nesting boxes for over 2 years!

Make sure the nests are dark, clean, and comfortable. You make think that hens don't have a preference, but believe me, they do! Good luck!

 

[SueT]

Is she lowest in the pecking order?

 

[andrinaden]

Sue T. I dont think she is lowest. She is one of the larger girls. She only did it the one time and all has been well since. Thanks!

 

[TexasSam]

Mine where doing the same thing but I removed the leaves from the area that they were using. After that they went back to the nest boxes.