Hen laying whilst roosting

[rebrascora]

Hi

I have just started my flock a couple of months ago. They are mostly young birds just coming into lay. Twice in the past week I have found bright yellow staining on the drop boards under the roosting bars. The first time I was concerned that one of them was doing yellow droppings and was perhaps ill, but today, I found the same yellow staining and some egg white, so I'm convinced that one of them is laying whilst on the roost. I did also find a tiny fragment of shell so I'm assuming the egg broke when it hit the drop board and the others ate it. The other hens are mostly using the nest boxes although some of them are starting to be sneaky and laying outside the hen house (they are free range during the day) but in nests of their own making and one of the silky crosses laid one on the floor in the hen house. My suspicion is that it is one of the silky crosses that is laying on the roost. I should say that the hens roost about 6 feet up and the drop boards are about a foot below that.

Has anyone else come across this before?

The silky crosses are quite timid and although they go up to roost with the others, they are wary on the ground. I'm wondering if they are too anxious to come down off the roost until I've let the others out and one of them is being "caught short" on the roost on a morning before I get there.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks

Barbara

 

[Odelia]

I would start with extra bedding under the roost so the egg is less likely to crack open until you figure out who is doing it. Why are your roosts so high? It must be hard for a silkie to be able to get up on the roost. They aren't known for their ability to fly.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and thanks for your reply

The hens are currently housed in an unused stone stable with a wooden hay heck in the corner. I built a cage around the lower part of they hay heck to house the first birds I got as I didn't want them to have the run of the whole stable and I was in the process of building a hen ark for them. In the meantime "chicken math" took over and I was given a pair of leg bars meaning I then had two cockerels, so the cage remained and one cockerel lives in the cage until I get the ark finished, as they were fighting.
Chicken math continued and several more hens arrived by various means and now having the run of the whole stable, decided that they wanted to roost up on top of the hay heck above the cage, so I put boards on top of the cage to stop poor Horace getting pooped on and to enable me to clean up easily each day. The cage is about 5 feet high and the top bar of the hay heck 6-7 feet. I put up several lower roost bar options but they use those to get up on top of the cage and then onto the hay heck and seem to be very happy up there. The pure silky bantum stays on the floor but the other two silkie cross bantams seem quite capable of getting up high with the other hens or sometimes they go in the cage with Horace and roost with him. The cage is open in one corner to allow the silkie bantams to get in and out if they wish without the larger hens getting through, so it is kind of a sanctuary for them and they are company for Horace.
It's not really feasible to bed the drop boards to a depth that would stop an egg breaking from a foot or so above as they are flat boards and the bedding would just get knocked off the sides and make it much more difficult to lift down and clean each day.

The hen ark is almost finished, so I am tempted to put Horace and the silkies in there and see if that sorts the problem. I had intended for the ark to be used as a breeding unit, but it may become the brooder unit instead, if I can get the silky crosses to start laying properly and become broody. Of course then Horace will have to go back in the cage or I'll have to start construction of another ark for him and his two ladies. This chicken math is more complicated than algebra!

 

[realsis]

I would guess something is scarring her and keeping her from the nesting box. I raise silkies myself and it's strange she isn't nesting in the box. They usually build nice nests to lay in. I'm thinking she may be getting picked on or intimidated and it's keeping her from properly nesting. Perhaps you can build another box just for her and place her in it so she knows it's safe. Then maybe she will begin laying in the proper place. ? I would find out also what or who is intimidating her. Hope this helps. Best wishes

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Realsis

Thanks for your reply.

At the moment I'm only guessing it is one of the 2 silky cross bantams. It definitely can't be the full silky because she roosts on the ground. All the other hens, apart from 2 are now laying and I know one of the bantams has started because there was an egg in the cage with Horace and he certainly didn't lay it and the other hens can't get in
The 2 silky cross bantams are intimidated by anything and everything and are very skittish, which makes me think it is one of them. I certainly can't get close enough to pick them up during the day and if I were to manage to catch hold of them and put them somewhere, they would not consider it safe and would be out and away, the minute I let go of them. I have put a nesting box in the cage with Horace this morning, facing the wall so that it is very private and hopefully they will investigate that and use it, but if they are stuck up on the roost when they need to lay and dare not come down, then maybe I also need a small nesting box up on the top of the cage for them.

I don't have any real concerns about any particular hen bullying them, but the two of them really lack confidence. I have given them a sanctuary area within the hen house where they are safe but they are choosing to roost up top with the others, when there are easier, safer options, so maybe that's a sign that they are gaining confidence and they just need a few more weeks to settle in.

I will keep this thread posted on progress.

Regards

Barbara