Laying egg early from roost

[BigBlueHen53]

I can test it with current eggs that are dropping. Some are Jumbo and I hate losing them. Most are at least large now. I have both 1" and 2" wire on hand. Before I do this I'm going to try and turn on the lights 24x7 for a week and see if that helps. I have LED lighting so no extra heat or a lot of extra expense will be incurred.

I'm excited to see how this goes. Will the additional lighting work? Will the chicken wire safety net do the trick? Stay tuned!

 

[LTAY1946]

Today there were no eggs dropped from the roost. All nice clean eggs to choose from for the incubators tomorrow morning. However in the other hen house one of the Delaware hens needs to learn to use the nest box....

 

[LTAY1946]

Today there were no eggs dropped from the roost. All nice clean eggs to choose from for the incubators tomorrow morning. However in the other hen house one of the Delaware hens needs to learn to use the nest box....

Today there were 3..... 32 in the nest box nice and clean. Those hens are getting a new coop and redesigned roosts and that's when the net goes under the roosting bars and a fence around them keeping them from plundering the ground underneath. Those Rhode Island Reds aren't as smart as they think they are. I'm wondering if the Rhode Island Whites are going to be crazy too? Only one Delaware hen has played bombardier this week.

 

[Wmaddox]

I have the same problem and am going tomorrow for timer that will turn on lights by 4 a.m. I am going to hang brooder type light fixtures with 25-40 watt light output from LED bulbs. I thought all this time that it was just my crazy hens. I'm tired of making dog food out of nearly a dozen large eggs a day.

did this work? its been 3 months of me moving her to make her sleep in the nest box and her rhythm has not caught up.

 

[Wmaddox]

I'm excited to see how this goes. Will the additional lighting work? Will the chicken wire safety net do the trick? Stay tuned!

please let me know if this worked. still loosing eggs.

 

[LTAY1946]

please let me know if this worked. still loosing eggs.

It works some days and not others. I put a deep layer of pine shavings under the roosts to prevent dirty eggs. Some days they drop only one or two and some days 3-4. When I get to move the entire flock into new housing I hope that will rectify the problem.. The Delaware flock usually only has none or 1 egg dropped from the roosts. They start laying later in the day while the RI Reds are done by 11. I'm beginning to wonder if my 45 capacity hen nest box is not enough for 40 RI R hens laying to close together and there is not enough room for the girls???? This coming week I'm going to add a few more nests somehow and see if that fixes things. Meantime more pine shavings every 3rd day...

 

[Wmaddox]

It works some days and not others. I put a deep layer of pine shavings under the roosts to prevent dirty eggs. Some days they drop only one or two and some days 3-4. When I get to move the entire flock into new housing I hope that will rectify the problem.. The Delaware flock usually only has none or 1 egg dropped from the roosts. They start laying later in the day while the RI Reds are done by 11. I'm beginning to wonder if my 45 capacity hen nest box is not enough for 40 RI R hens laying to close together and there is not enough room for the girls???? This coming week I'm going to add a few more nests somehow and see if that fixes things. Meantime more pine shavings every 3rd day...

did you try a light or just pine shavings?

 

[LTAY1946]

did you try a light or just pine shavings?

I have both. I have timers that turn lights on about 4:30 and off just after daylight about 6. I'm behind the 8 ball to get 2 more houses built for Dark Cornish and White Jersey Giants that are 4 weeks old Monday. Next I add more nest boxes for the Reds and Delawares. I'm using LED bulbs that use little kw's for a 200 watt daylight output. I did a test after dark to see what they would wake up to. They can definitely see their way to the nest boxes. Pecking order may be influencing their use of the nest box. It's a 48" community style roll out system that I love for the clean eggs incubator ready. I have a 5 gallon bucket for the ones I discard that are dirty and will compost them.

 

[Sydmaree05]

Hello all! I hsve 19 chickens and one always lays from the roost before daylight and one always lays in the same corner on the floor of the coop. I have no idea which two chickens are doing this. Ive tried picking each one up and putting her in the nesting boxes with fake eggs to train them where they should go but every day, there is an egg under the roost and one in the corner. I have 6 nesting boxes for 19 chickens.

 

[LTAY1946]

Hello all! I hsve 19 chickens and one always lays from the roost before daylight and one always lays in the same corner on the floor of the coop. I have no idea which two chickens are doing this. Ive tried picking each one up and putting her in the nesting boxes with fake eggs to train them where they should go but every day, there is an egg under the roost and one in the corner. I have 6 nesting boxes for 19 chickens.

I had the same problem when the sun comes up early. I still get one or two a week sometimes. 2 or 3 hens make it a point to make a nest in the shavings in one corner of the coop. I posted above all the things I have tried above along with things others posted they have done. Best wishes for you getting your girls organized.