Hen laying outside after sitting on nest,

[SueT]

My BA hen, who will be 2yrs this spring, has for seversl months been laying outside even tho she always sits in the nest box first. I have been trying to catch her in the act so i can better understand what is going on. One forum described a hen who regularly sat on the egg long enough for it to adhere to her rump feathers as it dried and the egg eventually would fall somewhere else. .I was thinking that might be the BA's issue. But today, i finally witnessed the event. I knew she was on the nest and i hung out until she emerged. I had a treat of kale for the girls, and i looked closely at the BA's bottom, no egg , no egg in nest either....suddenly she got a strange look, her neck feathers stood out horizontally, she squatted and....at that same moment as a warm wet egg popped out, the RIR hen attacked her, actually jumped on her back. The BA was so upset she didn't want her treat. So now i wonder if the RIR might be bullying her out of the nest, or if the BA just is somehow unaware of when the egg emerges. The only other members of the flock are 2 pullets. One is laying , and in the same nest with no problem it seems. The RIR, same age as the BA, hasn't begun laying since her molt. Anyone have any insight on these behaviors?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Strange, she might not be feeling things correctly back there and doesn't know when her egg comes out.

It is also possible that's she's being picked on. It can help to have multiple nestboxes in two different areas.

Another thought is you coming with a treat caused her to leave the box early and you didn't actually witness what is actually going on.

How tall are your nestboxes? Hens stand up to lay the egg. If she can't stand up all the way it might be the problem. She could be leaving to do her final push while standing comfortably outside of the box.

 

[SueT]

Well, we have 4 nest boxes made out of fruit crates, 2 above, 2 below, the boxes are only about a foot tall. We had 2 other hens (lost to predators when they were free range) and everyone else has always used these boxes without issue. The BA, on the left, is our smallest chicken. I'm thinking your theory that she just isn't feeling things correctly might be right.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Your boxes do look good. She just may be a weird chicken, hopefully it straightens out in the coming months as laying picks up speed.

 

[aart]

Maybe she's just a NumbButt?
Haha..sorry... bad joke.

 

[SueT]

Maybe she's just a NumbButt?
Haha..sorry... bad joke.

...yes, I think she has some kind of issue, or maybe it's a gift.
She has also been known to lay weird eggs, like this one last week with 2 pointed ends...