Hen laying on the ground?!

[BigBlueHen53]

Interesting. I never realized this could be an issue. I've been sporadically finding eggs on the ground when they lay in their nesting boxes 99% of the time. Figured it was adolescent mischief, but maybe it's not their fault.

Very possible, even likely. Young pullets may not realize what's happening when an egg pops out the first few times, who knows, maybe they think it is a poop, and that's why eggs end up on the floor of the coop or even in the middle of the run. Eventually they start figuring things out. I just leave golf balls in my nests all the time, I think it helps pullets get the idea that's where they should deposit their eggs. They catch on pretty quickly.

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

Very possible, even likely. Young pullets may not realize what's happening when an egg pops out the first few times, who knows, maybe they think it is a poop, and that's why eggs end up on the floor of the coop or even in the middle of the run. Eventually they start figuring things out. I just leave golf balls in my nests all the time, I think it helps pullets get the idea that's where they should deposit their eggs. They catch on pretty quickly.

I've been doing the ceramic eggs & golf balls since they were about 4 months old, but finding eggs in their run thing has only been happening 0-1 times/month for the last 2-3 months. Usually only a single egg, too. I've seen them move eggs from nesting box to nesting box(inside the coop), but that's only moving a few inches. Their coop is raised a few feet off the ground, and I have a ladder, not a ramp, so I didn't think it was possible for them to move eggs out of their usual laying area.

I have some cameras pointed at the nesting boxes, but nowhere else, but I also keep forgetting to check and see if anything weird has been happening while they are in the coop. That reminds me, I wonder if I can catch a chicken getting up with an egg stuck to their butt. I have found a few with a fluffy feather or single pine shaving stuck to the egg.