Is it normal that mostly one of our five chickens is laying 2-6 non fertilized eggs daily..and how do we calm her when we remove her eggs?

[Moonkat]

We are brand new to raising chickens. Our five chickens females are now six months old. No rooster. Egg consumption only, not for breeding and not meat consumption.
1) We are concerned because it seems that one of the chickens is mostly laying daily ALL of the eggs. Is this normal for one chicken to lay many eggs each day? How many eggs are normal ? Seems to be 2-6 eggs daily mostly or all from her!
She began laying eggs for first time just three weeks ago, and the other chickens had not laid eggs yet.
So chicken laying is a new event for all of the chickens.
2)And now she is becoming very irritable , follows me around the coop every day, because she seems irritated that I am taking her eggs. we don’t have a rooster, and so eggs are not fertilized, but I guess she feels that I am taking her unborn chicks? How do we remove eggs and not make her mad? She cries out , follows me, and seems to investigate anything that I remove from coop , checking for her eggs. The other chickens also seem to join in to be look for her eggs as well, and make similar irritated sounds toward me. Feeling bad for her, I leave the eggs for a few hours or over night in the nest before taking them from her. Maybe I am making the situation worse by leaving the eggs with her for while? Sometimes , I witness one of the other chickens resting on her eggs as well, protecting from me taking them. Thank you for any tips.

 

[The Happster]

What makes you think the other chickens aren't laying?
She won't be laying you that amount of eggs per day. We wish.

I like to distract my chickens when I collect eggs by chucking some scratch or oats in the opposite direction. It doesn't matter too much though. They'll forget about the eggs.
Chickens typically lay one egg every 23 hours. If you can introduce us to this amazing egg laying breed I'd be delighted.

 

[angela hernandez]

We are brand new to raising chickens. Our five chickens females are now six months old. No rooster. Egg consumption only, not for breeding and not meat consumption.
1) We are concerned because it seems that one of the chickens is mostly laying daily ALL of the eggs. Is this normal for one chicken to lay many eggs each day? How many eggs are normal ? Seems to be 2-6 eggs daily mostly or all from her!
She began laying eggs for first time just three weeks ago, and the other chickens had not laid eggs yet.
So chicken laying is a new event for all of the chickens.
2)And now she is becoming very irritable , follows me around the coop every day, because she seems irritated that I am taking her eggs. we don’t have a rooster, and so eggs are not fertilized, but I guess she feels that I am taking her unborn chicks? How do we remove eggs and not make her mad? She cries out , follows me, and seems to investigate anything that I remove from coop , checking for her eggs. The other chickens also seem to join in to be look for her eggs as well, and make similar irritated sounds toward me. Feeling bad for her, I leave the eggs for a few hours or over night in the nest before taking them from her. Maybe I am making the situation worse by leaving the eggs with her for while? Sometimes , I witness one of the other chickens resting on her eggs as well, protecting from me taking them. Thank you for any tips.

it sounds to me like they might be going broody? though they’re still quite young to be doing so.. reguardless of whether there is a rooster present chickens can and will go broody. secondly, are you sure your other hens aren’t laying yet? up to six eggs for a hen to be laying daily doesn’t sound right to me, again unless she plans to sit on those eggs to incubate them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

1) I don't see how it's possible for a chicken to lay 2-6 eggs a day... on occasion folks have reported a hen popping out more than 1 egg a day but that is a very rare thing. Have you actually watched her laying?

2) Leaving fake eggs in the nests can help with chickens that have anxiety over seeing eggs gone.

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Yeah, I think you have more than one laying bird. Chickens can lay two eggs a day, but not two shelled ones. The calcification process takes 21 ish hours, and chickens don’t like laying at night. They might all be going broody, which seems quite likely.

 

[Fishychix]

I don’t remember the exact timeline for the egg laying cycle. Mine have not started yet, but I’ve done tons of research and, like you, reach out with questions. It’s not possible for her to be laying all of those eggs. Once in a while you may get two eggs from one hen, but that’s because she likely laid the first one just after you checked and the second just before you checked the next day. She could be broody, but I’ll let the more experienced people comment on that one. Do some research on the egg cycle in chickens.

 

[The Happster]

I have had hens laying multiple soft shelled eggs per day.
But it's different hens in this case, not the one.
Because it sounds like a regular thing - and with the other hens sitting in the nest, it just adds up.

 

[FlocksOfFluff]

She is not laying all the eggs. The other chickens probably get in the nest and lay their eggs while you're not looking and then let her have her nest back again. Sometimes two hens will sit in one nest at the same time. Is she broody? That is usually the problem when hens get mad at you for taking eggs.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I'm positive it's more than one chicken laying, as it's been said chickens lay at least one per 20 - 24hrs, it's the way their reproductive system works. Depending on the breed, some lay everyday while others less. My WTBs & WTGs lay everyday

Sounds like someone's going broody, as explained it can happen without a Roo. Again depending on the breed, some are prone to broodiness. Leaving a fake egg may help the squawking but then if any get serious about being broody, you'll have to deal with that. Tossing treats to distract them is a good idea.

So far I'm really thrilled with the WTBs &WTGs I got, they're great layers & non broody, the WTBs lay bluish eggs while one WTG lays greenish an the other brown ... I find the WTGs eggs are "bigger" than the WTBs.

 

[FlocksOfFluff]

What breed are the hens? Do they all look identical or can you tell them apart? It just occurred to me that if they are identical you may be mistaking one hen for another.