Is the next box too small for Brahma?

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

The opening is 7in x9 in. And there are low ones and higher ones. The space in side is 12x10 on the bottom and at least 12x12 in the top. And with the angled roof gives lots of extra head room.
Right now she is making the trip to my highest roost bar, which for a big chicken, is a great feat. That egg has no chance being laid from 6 feet off the ground.

hopefully @aart is right and she will learn once she’s been laying longer.

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

So she's a new layer.....and acting like one.
Lots of bedding and a fake egg in a nest or two?
Give her time, she'll figure it out.
I don't think the nest size is an issue.

So it’s been at least a month and it’s still an issue. And honestly i am getting less and less eggs. I have 15 layers and got 8, then 6 and now 4 a day. I do have a broody so i am counting her out of my expectations. Today i walked in to collect eggs and there was a frenzy under the poop board. She is still doing it and i am afraid that they have learned to eat eggs. My chicken friend was here the other day and she confirmed that in her opinion the boxes look big enough and that she’s not any digger than some of the orphingtons and Wyandotte’s that i have. I am just concerned. I cannot cull the entire flock if they are egg eating. It would break my heart.

 

[aart]

Today i walked in to collect eggs and there was a frenzy under the poop board.

What was the frenzy about?
Were they eating an egg?
Did you get a hold of the shell to see if it was thin or soft?

 

[Mtnboomer]

Is there any remnants of eaten eggs like sticky clumps of bedding from spilled yolk? I followed some common practice/advice a few years ago and fed egg shells back to my birds. One bird suddenly developed an affinity for full eggs and was eating at least one daily before i caught her in the act and ended it. All spent shells now go into the garden.

Otherwise, there may be other variables at work here. When was the last time they molted?
Stressed by a predator?
Otherwise completely healthy?
Cold spell? Heat wave?
Stormy weather?
Sudden changes to environment?
Different feed?
My Brahmas usually peak in egg production April-June. After that it gets hot in summer and it declines. We get a little perk up in late September-Oct but then the days are shortening and without supplemental lighting they have stopped altogether before. Egg production through winter without lighting is dismal (maybe an egg a day from 8-10hens), but with lighting its better (about 4 eggs a day).

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

What was the frenzy about?
Were they eating an egg?
Did you get a hold of the shell to see if it was thin or soft?

They were eating an egg, she had just laid it from the top roost and it splattered and shattered. There was the left over on the poop tray and the rest of the pieces were over the floor. This is where she lays though and the others have come to expect it. Being home i can collect eggs more often and if i get to it before they do i certainly try.

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

Is there any remnants of eaten eggs like sticky clumps of bedding from spilled yolk? I followed some common practice/advice a few years ago and fed egg shells back to my birds. One bird suddenly developed an affinity for full eggs and was eating at least one daily before i caught her in the act and ended it. All spent shells now go into the garden.

Otherwise, there may be other variables at work here. When was the last time they molted?
Stressed by a predator?
Otherwise completely healthy?
Cold spell? Heat wave?
Stormy weather?
Sudden changes to environment?
Different feed?
My Brahmas usually peak in egg production April-June. After that it gets hot in summer and it declines. We get a little perk up in late September-Oct but then the days are shortening and without supplemental lighting they have stopped altogether before. Egg production through winter without lighting is dismal (maybe an egg a day from 8-10hens), but with lighting its better (about 4 eggs a day).

She is my only Brahma. We have not had any other issues to my knowledge. We have heard coyotes off in the distance a few evenings through the month but nothing close. We had some crusty butt issues a few weeks back but i appear to have that taken care of. Same food, but of course i will start mixing that soon as the co-op is no longer carrying what we use. So they are about to go into a food change.

and yes there are a few random egg shells. Some messes in the nest boxes. I pulled my brahmas into quarantine today just to see if i can convince her to lay where she is supposed to an plan on clearing eggs from boxes all day for awhile.

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

This chicken is nuts. She escaped quarantine. I helped her in to the box and although tight she can get in and out!

 

[aart]

They were eating an egg, she had just laid it from the top roost and it splattered and shattered. There was the left over on the poop tray and the rest of the pieces were over the floor. This is where she lays though and the others have come to expect it. Being home i can collect eggs more often and if i get to it before they do i certainly try.

Was the shell thin and weak?
Do you think the other birds are harassing her away from the nests?

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

We ha

Was the shell thin and weak?
Do you think the other birds are harassing her away from the nests?

no the shells of her eggs are fine. There are times they land in places they cannot reach and shells are there but cracked from the fall.

i have 10 boxes for 15 hens. I would be surprised if she was being bullied away. I tried her back in quarantine because she kept jumping up on the roost bar to what i thought was lay. Well she didn’t lay in the nest but rather flapped her big self up over the wall and randomly about the supply side of the coop.
S
She is my only hen with feathered feet. Maybe they do bully her. Honestly any place besides the 4ft drop would be a fine place to lay! I pick up plenty of randomly dropped eggs on the coop floor every now and then. I just can’t figure out how to break this bag it before the whole coop goes nuts over eggs!

 

[aart]

I just can’t figure out how to break this bag it before the whole coop goes nuts over eggs!

Might have to remove her from the flock permanently.
Sometimes you get that one bird that just causes all kinds of havoc.
Have had a couple.