Hidden Nest in the yard

[mediazeal]

My egg production has been down so I have been suspecting that the girls are being lazy/sneaky and finding hidden places to lay in the yard. Avoiding those few steps back to the coop.
I have 4 Golden Penciled Hamburgs. Hamburgs usually lay 5-6 eggs a week each. I've been getting half that since it got so hot.
Well right after I let them out this morning, I heard one of them singing egg song on the other side of the yard. I went over but she was not laying and was just standing around singing. I looked into the thorny bushes near her and sure enough, there was her sister on a nest of 7 cold hamburg eggs. So she had not laid one that day yet.
I took them inside and put them into a pan of warm water. All of them sank
so I'm going to scramble them for the chicks in the brooder.

What do you do with eggs you find from sneaky chickens? do you just toss them?

I hear them singing again and one of them is under the deck where I can not get.

What would you do? make them stay in the coop/run?
Mine tend to lay later in the day, not morning.
gheesh...

 

[Laurieks]

Quote:
Mine too

A friend of mine just found 4 silkies on 80 eggs... as he was deciding what to do, 8 hatched (they came to me

). 47 more are fertile & going to someone else's incubator. They're Silkie/possible Frizzle, so I'm counting toes & waiting. (do Frizzles have 5 toes?).

Sooo, I hope someone has great advice on this. For now if you find more I'd candle, incubate, & sell to feed store. (and scramble fresher ones for the brooder).

Happy 4th!

 

[mediazeal]

Quote:
Mine too

A friend of mine just found 4 silkies on 80 eggs... as he was deciding what to do, 8 hatched (they came to me

). 47 more are fertile & going to someone else's incubator. They're Silkie/possible Frizzle, so I'm counting toes & waiting. (do Frizzles have 5 toes?).

Sooo, I hope someone has great advice on this. For now if you find more I'd candle, incubate, & sell to feed store. (and scramble fresher ones for the brooder).

Happy 4th!

WOW, congrats on the silkie score!
These were not sat on at all, so were cold at night
I'm assuming they did not develop at all.
silly birds.
Candling is a great idea, especially since these are white eggs.
Though I really do not want lavender orpington/golden penciled hamburg cross chicks
Happy 4th to you too!

 

[pgpoultry]

My hens lay anywhere. I doubt I would have any eating eggs if I did not find their laying places. two of mine lay early, so I keep them in the coop until about 10:00a.m

in your position I would pen them up late in the day if they lay late and you cannot easily determine where they lay in the garden.

With regards to clutches of eggs I find, any that float, semi-suspend or do not promptly sink,or any old looking eggs, dirty etc.I throw. I then crack them open and if they do not smell fresh I throw. I use the ones that seem fresh using them in cooking methods requiring high temperatures or feed them to the dog (I don't usually use found eggs for incubation). Neither us nor the dog have come to any harm so far.

Sandie

 

[crazy chook]

If the eggs sink, then they are fine, you can eat them.

 

[mediazeal]

Thank you for your 'found egg' story. Its the direction I was going but without much confidence. I keep tellng myself, well they sank....
I scrambled 2 for the brooder kids yesterday
everyone is still alive

 

[stumble_n_mumble]

I think its cute and I'd you don't need the eggs to eat why not have some babies and sell sell sell. Lol

 

[gryeyes]

I found a hidden nest with a chicken on it; she had 3 eggs in the nest. Not all of them were hers. Now, she was not broody, she just wanted a quiet place to lay eggs.

She couldn't get into the coop where they USED to lay eggs (because I locked it off for my broody Buffy and my GrandChick Buffy hatched), nor could she get into the Middles' coop - her alternate location - because I gave THAT coop away and had a new one delivered. She didn't understand about the new coop. She also doesn't like to lay in the rollaway nest in the Big Coop where she sleeps. *sigh*

So she laid eggs in a little hollow between the water heater "house," the wall to my house, and a tree trunk.

And she talked another pullet into using the same spot.

I think I'll scramble 'em and feed 'em to Buffy and my GrandChick.

 

[gaillardia]

Now I am getting nervous. My pullets have not yet started to lay, but should within the next 4 or 5 weeks. My girls free range all day and spend a great deal of time under the big wrap-around porch. I worry that I will have to crawl under the porch to see if there are any eggs. I have lots of shrubs and follage for them to lay under as well. I guess I am counting on an egg song to alert me to the area.

 

[BlackBart]

I just found, by accident, 12 Dorking eggs under the peony plant by my front door. Clever hen never made a noise.