How many eggs should i get a day?

[pookie2jose]

I was told each hen lays an egg a day. I haave 4 hens, and 4 nest boxes. I have one EE, 2 brown hens, and one barred rock. I was told chickens don't share nest boxes, the past few days, ive been finding 3 eggs in my EE's next box, two of which I know are hers. Theres either 2 blue eggs, or 2 blue eggs and a brown egg.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

That sounds about right. I would guess four eggs a day but you should usually expect one hen to skip a day.

 

[pookie2jose]

do hens share a nest box? ive got 4 nest boxes, and 4 hens. and only one box gets used.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

do hens share a nest box? ive got 4 nest boxes, and 4 hens. and only one box gets used.

It's not healthy for hens to nest in the same at the same time. This leads to egg breakage and stressed hens. So try and encourage them to use other nests by putting fake eggs and herbs in them.

 

[pookie2jose]

ive only seen my EE in the nest box, and the blue eggs are hers. is It healthy for one hen to lay 3 eggs a day?

 

[Mountain Peeps]

ive only seen my EE in the nest box, and the blue eggs are hers. is It healthy for one hen to lay 3 eggs a day?

Not at all. Something is wrong with her system. Are you sure she is laying three a day? It's not another hen or two?

 

[pookie2jose]

The eggs ive been getting are in her nest box. There are usually 2 blue-ish green eggs and one brownish pink egg in her nest box. shes my only EE, so the eggs have to be hers. I collect eggs daily. Im pretty sure they are all hers. I went out to the chicken shed one day, the nests were empty. I went and fed the cattle, went back into the chicken shed, and my EE just jumped out of the box and there were 3 eggs.

 

[AkChris]

One hen is not going to be laying different colored eggs. They can sometimes vary in shade depending upon how much pigment is excreted onto the egg but a hen that is laying blue-green eggs is not likely to also be laying brown eggs.

Lots of times hens will all share one nest. Even when there are more nests they can all decide one is the best and all lay in that one,
I have just one nest for 5 hens...it is a double-wide and can easily hold two hens at once and so far that seems to be fine for my girls. I've read from various sources that up to four hens can share one nest. But it is nice to give them options in case one nest is occupied.

 

[pookie2jose]

EE's lay a variety of colored eggs.

 

[aart]

They will all lay in one nest, not necessarily at the same time, they will lay where there is already an egg.
Or you can use fake eggs/golf balls to entice them to lay in the other nests too.

But you can't say 'this nest is for this bird' and expect them to lay in the 'named' nest....they will lay where instinct tells them to lay.

I'm thinking you might have 2 blue egg layers...tho it is possible for brand new layers to lay 2 eggs in one day, but 1 is usually a softshell egg and usually only happens a couple times within the first week of laying.