Hens laying from the roost....in the middle of the night!

[sajimnkim]

I think somehow 2 of my 14 hens have somehow got their clocks off. I had 1 laying from the roost and she eventually found her way into the nest boxes, but now seems to be doing it again and someone else has joined her! What the heck? I know they have used the nest boxes previously, because I track eggs and broken eggs, and for several weeks we were getting 14 eggs just fine.

Any ideas why they would suddenly start laying from the roost and seemingly in the middle of the night, or at least in hours of darkness? I made a point to let them out early today while it was still dark and inspected the coop to find 2 cracked eggs at the bottom again. have a flock of ISA Browns and Golden Comets.....and no real way to tel who is doing this.

Ideas?

 

[CluckerFamily]

How old are they?
If they are young and just started laying this year, their body is still trying to figure things out. Sometimes an egg surprises them when they are still on the roost.

 

[sajimnkim]

They were hatched just before Palm Sunday this year. So maybe it's just a 2020 thing....lol.

 

[WindingRoad]

I think somehow 2 of my 14 hens have somehow got their clocks off. I had 1 laying from the roost and she eventually found her way into the nest boxes, but now seems to be doing it again and someone else has joined her! What the heck? I know they have used the nest boxes previously, because I track eggs and broken eggs, and for several weeks we were getting 14 eggs just fine.

Any ideas why they would suddenly start laying from the roost and seemingly in the middle of the night, or at least in hours of darkness? I made a point to let them out early today while it was still dark and inspected the coop to find 2 cracked eggs at the bottom again. have a flock of ISA Browns and Golden Comets.....and no real way to tel who is doing this.

Ideas?

Just asking do you have enough nest boxes, Are they clean. No one sleeping in them at night. My birds did that when I first got them as pullets. I don't think they had enough nest boxes at the other place and all 5 of my leghorns had bare butts. One way for that to happen is sleeping in a nest box. I broke them for that. Heck one Buff I have still sneaks in now and then. I promptly tell her she can't sleep there and put her on the roost.

 

[LaFleche]

This could be due to EDS Egg Drop Syndrom which is a virus.

 

[Aapomp831]

I think somehow 2 of my 14 hens have somehow got their clocks off. I had 1 laying from the roost and she eventually found her way into the nest boxes, but now seems to be doing it again and someone else has joined her! What the heck? I know they have used the nest boxes previously, because I track eggs and broken eggs, and for several weeks we were getting 14 eggs just fine.

Any ideas why they would suddenly start laying from the roost and seemingly in the middle of the night, or at least in hours of darkness? I made a point to let them out early today while it was still dark and inspected the coop to find 2 cracked eggs at the bottom again. have a flock of ISA Browns and Golden Comets.....and no real way to tel who is doing this.

Ideas?

ISA browns and red comets (virtually the same thing) were bred to lay copious amounts of eggs, and to be less effected by molting and daylight reduction. It sounds to like their bodies still want to lay but their internal clocks are being disrupted by the shorter days. My production chickens lay eggs in the middle of the night sometimes too.

 

[centrarchid]

I am beginning to wonder if the egg production breeds need supplemental light, not to promote egg laying, rather to allow a behavioral pattern that properly supports egg production their bodies are programmed for.

 

[sajimnkim]

Would this EDS affect eating of the rest of the flock's eggs?

 

[sajimnkim]

OK, so now this is getting frustrating and it seems to be spreading. This morning found 2 eggs that had been paid from the roost in the middle of the night (hours of darkness). Then just a few minutes ago, my wife was out on the back porch having her coffee, when she heard an egg hit the wire floor, and the chickens that were already out in the yard came running to eat the cracked egg. By the time I got out there which ever bird did it was not on the roost, so no telling who it was. Out of 14 chickens it's hard to tell them apart anyway.

How does one get them to stop laying from the roost? I'm not sure it's EDS, because there are no soft eggs, these are nice hard-shelled eggs, just being dropped from the roost. I have 5 nest boxes, that we've used both wood chips and now straw in, and they tend to use most of them. I have noticed the old favorite box seems much less used suddenly. ARGH!!

 

[aart]

They were hatched just before Palm Sunday this year.

So they are about 6 months, or 26 weeks, old?
How long have they been laying?
It can take up to a month or so for things to smooth out.
Do you have a fake egg in each of the nests?
Pics of your coop and nests might offer a clue here.