Laying, but in the wrong place

[eggmandoo]

My only laying hen has Laid her egg on the coop floor, underneath the perches. It has hAppened two days running. Previous To this she laid in a nesting box. Any ideas or tips ????

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds like she's dropping them from the roost at night. How old is she?

 

[eggmandoo]

24 weeks. She laid at 8 am last week but I don't know now

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

So she's a new layer than. It can take some hens a bit of time to understand the sensations they are feeling and to learn to hold an egg in until morning. I would expect it to eventually stop as she becomes more familiar with what is going on and what she needs to do. They don't always automatically seek out the nestboxes. I'm actually surprised at how many do it right.

 

[eggmandoo]

Thanks very much.

 

[ChickenLady♡]

I realise this is a really old post but am bumping because I have the same problem. I have a 7-8 month old sussex that has just started laying (at least I think it's her) but this has been going on for well over a week now. I think I have found a total of 8 or 9 eggs - all under the roosts in the sleeping coop, 1 in the middle of the lawn.

How long will it take her to work out she should go to the nest box? She is lower in the pecking order - might she be too scared to use the nest box if the other girls are there? I have about six laying hens and three nest boxes.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It can take a few weeks for some to figure it all out. Dropping them from the roost generally happens over night as sometimes new layers don't hold them until morning. She should eventually stop it.