Hen suddenly laying elsewhere

[KarynVA]

I have 3 hens, all have been laying consistently in the nest boxes; pretty much an egg a day from each. They are all 9 months old and have been laying since October. Just the past few days, one of the hens has started laying elsehwere. I found an egg in their dustbath (a cat litter box inside their coop filled with sand, ashes, and straw); and today I found one nearly buried in the litter of their run.

Each nest box still has a ceramic egg in it, and I clean the nest boxes daily. Is there anything I can do to encourage her to go back to using the nest box? She had been using it consistently before this week.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Are all of your other hens still laying in the nesting boxes?

 

[linguini]

I have 3 hens, all have been laying consistently in the nest boxes; pretty much an egg a day from each. They are all 9 months old and have been laying since October. Just the past few days, one of the hens has started laying elsehwere. I found an egg in their dustbath (a cat litter box inside their coop filled with sand, ashes, and straw); and today I found one nearly buried in the litter of their run.

Each nest box still has a ceramic egg in it, and I clean the nest boxes daily. Is there anything I can do to encourage her to go back to using the nest box? She had been using it consistently before this week.

This just happened to one of our hens the other day. I found an egg of our hen with least laying tenure (< 3 weeks) on the ground in the run, late afternoon. And it was in a muddy spot near the door, not at all an inviting place to lay !) I think it must have been an "accidental sudden laying". It's not possible for anyone of them to carry the egg out from the nesting box in the coop.

Like you, we have ceramic eggs in each nesting box, and I clean the coop/nesting box daily. 3 boxes for 8 hens. Sometimes there'd be a traffic jam and we can see two hens squeezing into one box. She went back to the nesting box today. Hope that's just one-time unusual incident!

 

[Winter Creek Coop]

If you clean out the eggs from the new nest they will often come back to the nest boxes.

 

[KarynVA]

Are all of your other hens still laying in the nesting boxes?

Yes.

Linguini - Nice to know it happens with other hens also. I like your suggestion that it was an 'accidental sudden laying'. That may be it. Maybe she was even a tad eggbound, because she didn't lay at all yesterday, and then maybe suddenly it slid out, lol. Thankfully, she is okay, in any case.

 

[Byrd gal]

My girls decide to play hide and seek sometimes. It takes one girl to pick a spot in the run and I be darned if theres three or four eggs there,like they forgot they have nest boxes at all or maybe the walk to the box is too far I have no clue. I guess its always something with them.

 

[aart]

and I clean the nest boxes daily

Why would you need to 'clean' the nests daily?

 

[KarynVA]

In our coop set up, the nest boxes are joined to the main part of the coop. So the same bedding that is under the roosts and on the coop floor gets kicked into the nest boxes, along with poop. So each morning I rake out the nest boxes, leaving only clean bedding and the fake egg siting prettily on top.

This morning, all was back to normal. So I think it had to have been an S.A.L. ("sudden accidental laying" as linguini calls it). I love that phrase! I am picturing my hen, happily roaming the run with her friends, when suddenly, "ba ...........................................................................................................................gawk?"

 

[aart]

In our coop set up, the nest boxes are joined to the main part of the coop. So the same bedding that is under the roosts and on the coop floor gets kicked into the nest boxes, along with poop. So each morning I rake out the nest boxes, leaving only clean bedding and the fake egg siting prettily on top.

Ah, I see. That's kind of a PITA, eh?
Too bad the nests are not set higher....or maybe a higher lip in front of nests would help.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Too bad the nests are not set higher....or maybe a higher lip in front of nests would help.

x2. Have you tried putting in a decent sized lip in front of the nests? Not the end of the world if this can't be fixed, but I sure would rather not rake poop out of the nests each day.