Invisble eggs ??

[Rennie]

My hen squats when i go near her .. Goes and sits in the nest box for about 20 mins .. Comes out and sings proudly to tell me she has left me a present ..When i look in the nest box .. THERE IS NOTHING THERE ..

Is she just close to laying or could she be having problems ?

 

[burquechick]

She's probably getting close to laying. How old is she?

 

[Rennie]

Just over 6 months old (Hatched 6 feb i think)

I have another hen hatched on the same day who i dont think is laying yet ..But one of these 2 MUST be ..

The invisible egg layer goes to the nest everyday though but i dont get the extra egg very often

 

[burquechick]

Oh yeah, then she's probably the one laying. But mine don't always lay when they go into the nest either. Some of them seem to sit in there more out of habit than actual need. Then others will even sit in there for hours and not lay an egg. These usually go broody about a week later. Others still almost have the egg halfway out by the time they get there! If you're worried that she might have an egg stuck, you can squeeze her belly to find out. It helps to use another chicken for comparison. If she has an egg stuck in there, you should feel the hard ball in her tummy. But, from your description, it doesn't sound like that's what's going on. She's probably just enjoying her new found womanhood. Or is that henhood?

 

[Rennie]

Thanks for the reassurance .. It makes me laugh when she comes out singing and there is nothing there, Ill check her tomorrow though just to be sure.

 

[cluckiemama]

I have a question along these lines. I have 6 six month old chickens (3 Plymouth Rock, 3 Austrolorp). We got our first egg !!!! Friday - and none since. Is that normal? I'm afraid they're laying outside the coop- I really don't want to do an egg hunt throughout the yard daily! Is it normal to have the first egg and then a period of time go by? Also, how do I make sure they lay in their boxes in the coop?

 

[Dingleberry]

Two of my "Mature" hens do that. It is funny. I kept thinking oh my kids must of got the eggs..

 

[Rennie]

From my own experience I had a similar story, I got my first egg then nothing for a week, I dont know a sceintific reason for why, I think its just the age and that they are new to it,

Now Im getting more frequent eggs but still cant predict how many or when they will lay, I tried for ages to get mine to lay 1 a day and finally gave up on it,


As for getting them to lay in the boxes, dummy eggs or golf balls definitely work .. as long as its dark warm and comfortable and they see that its where they should lay (with the fakes) .They will lay there

 

[burquechick]

Quote:
Haha, dummy eggs didn't work for me. Only managed to prevent my chickens from laying in the same spot. They were totally freaked out by the presence of a such a foreign object.

 

[Rennie]

LOL ... ok ill rephrase that . dummy eggs and golf balls sometimes work