Laying where they roost

michchicklady

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About three days ago, we thought 3 of our 4 chickens stopped laying eggs. come to find out, they were laying where they roost, which I did not see until today. The eggs were laying in their poop for that length of time. Yuck. I'm guessing I should just toss out the eggs. Now that the coop is clean, bedding is changed, will they go back to their nesting box and if they don't, how do I get them to do so?
 
Welcome to BYC.
How old are your birds and how long have they been laying? How many eggs, total, did you find under the roost and were they grouped together or scattered about?
It's difficult to know just why these eggs were laid where they were because we don't know just when it took place. For example, if it is a matter of a bird that had found herself surprised by an egg that reached the point of expulsion in the overnight, roosting hours that isn't so much about re-training to the nest box as that would be quite different than a bird who was laying during the daylight hours and for some reason chose the roost over the nest boxes.
 
There is one bird that is still laying in the nest. The other three are laying over the roost. They are all grouped together and there were 9 total. We have been feeding them lots of different food and I thought they stopped laying because of that (fed watermelon, pineapple, mangos and other stuff). They are a year old almost exactly and have been laying almost daily ever since they started laying in early January (which shocked me given how cold this michigan winter was. They would still lay even when the lows were -10 F) they have been very consistent which shocked me when I found no eggs when closing up the coop. But I never looked where they roosted cos they were already asleep and it was dark when I closed the coop. I have one Rhode Island Red, one is a brown and 2 Americanas.
 
Honestly, my first thought would be one egg somehow wound up in that location - be it a night slip or someone intentionally chose that place over the nest boxes (reasons could be many on why they would do so) - that first misplaced egg then acted as a beacon to indicate 'Hey, this is *the* place to lay your eggs now" and drew the birds who laid the next 8 eggs over the course of the last few days into that same place, with the spot getting more attractive with each extra egg added to the clutch.
*I* would clean and freshen the nests - which you have already done - and then "bait" them with 2-3 golf balls or wooden eggs in re-set their sights on the nests as the new hot spot in town to do all their laying. The other part of this is to make a point to check the old depository at least once a day (more often if possible) to make sure you can gather any eggs that are laid there up as soon as possible to minimize their ability to continue being a draw for more eggs.
 
I've kept the eggs that were sitting out and in poop for at least 3 days. Should I cook them up for the girls or get rid of them?
 

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