Hen Laying Eggs In Plant Pot...

[Brillig]

One of my hens started laying eggs about two months ahead of schedule and I didn't have my nesting boxes ready...She decided to use my potted fig tree as her nest...Every day, when I open the coop doors, she heads over to the fig tree and lays an egg (she's got close to a dozen now)...I'm planning on making the nesting boxes this weekend but I'm not sure how to encourage her to use one...If I take the eggs out of the fig tree and put them in the box, will she recognize them and start laying along side the older eggs, or do I need to get rid of the eggs and the fig tree and take that option away from her??? Sorry, I know it's a weird question, I just don't know the answer...

Also...

Is there a way to encourage her to go broody or is that just something she'll either decide to do or won't???

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm curious why you have not taken the eggs every day and enjoyed them. I would put some fake eggs in the nest boxes and take the fig tree away. Perhaps keep her in the coop/run until she has laid her egg there. If you are not able to remove the fig tree, perhaps wrap some fencing around it to keep her out of it. IMO, you can't encourage a hen to go broody. It's hormonally driven. Unless you are south of the equator, this is the wrong time of the year for hens to be going broody. (though, stranger things have happened.)

 

[Brillig]

I would have liked to eat them, but my partner was debating whether or not to incubate them instead...We had a few losses to our flock over the last few months and although this is a tough time of year to raise chicks, we could use a few more hens...

 

[donrae]

Take those eggs and eat them. She's not broody, and you're just wasting them at this point.

What breeds do you have? That will let us know how likely your bird is to go broody.

To encourage her to lay in a specific area, bait the nest with golf balls, ceramic eggs, etc. Just a few is good enough. Since she's in the habit of laying in the pot, you;ll probably need to confine her to the coop or block off the pot for a week or so.

If you're wanting to tempt her to go broody, try baiting the nest with half a dozen or so fake eggs/golf balls, etc. It's by no means a given, but I feel having the feel of a larger clutch under them can, on occasion, help trigger the broody hormones.

If you have a production bred bird, and are in the northern hemisphere, you're pretty much not going to get a broody now. Nature is working against you. Come spring, things may be different. Or, you can purchase an incubator.

 

[aart]

Ditto Donrae......
.....and if you want to incubate the eggs, best to take them out of the pot/nest and store them in dry, cool place until you are ready to set them.

 

[Brillig]

Thanks Everyone...

I have Easter Eggers (mainly Auracana, as is the rooster) and various Orpingtons...Installing the nesting boxes today...I'll harvest the eggs...The oldest ones are about two weeks old, but daytime temps have only been in the 60's and nighttime temps have been in the 40's so they should probably all be edible still...Yes???

 

[donrae]

I'd eat them.

Crack them into a bowl first, just in case. But that's about the temp they'd be setting on my kitchen counter, so I think you're fine.