Hopethehen
Chirping
- Oct 18, 2017
- 76
- 35
- 51
Beautiful bird!
Laying while roosting
- Thread starter gardoqui
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #12
gardoqui
Chirping
- Thread starter
- #13
gardoqui
Chirping
I have eggs in box
- Thread starter
- #14
gardoqui
Chirping
Found another busted egg on poop board again this morning.
How long have your birds been laying?
More info would help:
your flock size(numbers, ages, genders),
your coop(size in feet by feet with pics),
how many nests,
and what and how exactly you are feeding,
might offer clues to if there is a solvable problem.
Cindy, can you give a bit more information. From what I read she was laying in the nest but at some point switched to laying from the roost. First, are you sure it is the same pullet and not another just starting to lay? I had one lay from the roosts for over two months, it took that long to figure out which one it was.
How are your other pullets doing with their eggs? When I have a problem I try to decide if it is a flock wide problem or just one individual. That way I don’t treat the entire flock for an individual problem. The way you describe it this sounds like an individual problem but I’ll ask anyway.
How old is she and how long was she laying in the nest? I see she has been laying from the roost for two weeks. How hard are the shells on the broken eggs, how do the shells compare to the other hens’ eggs? I see you are in New Hampshire, thanks for that information. Are you extending lights or do they follow the sun as far as waking and bedtime?
When a pullet first starts to lay you can get all kinds of weird eggs and they can be dropped about anywhere. The internal egg making factory is pretty complicated, it takes some pullets a while to work out all the bugs. That’s not just getting the parts of the egg right (the shell, yolk, and whites) but releasing the correct number of yolks and when to release them. Most have some control over when the egg is laid from the start but some take a while to gain some control over the egg laying process. Some can delay laying the egg but some seem to have no control over that initially and just drop it wherever they happen to be. As complicated as the entire system is it’s surprising how many get it all right to start with.
It normally takes about 25 hours for an egg to make it through the hen’s internal egg making factory. It can be more or less but normally around 25 hours from the time a yolk is released to start that internal journey until the egg is laid. There are certain triggers that tell a hen when to release that yolk to start that journey. One of them is when she lays an egg, a yolk is usually released a few minutes after that. Another trigger is light. If it is too late in the day to start an egg so it can be laid during daylight, then the hen delays releasing that yolk until the following morning. That’s why I’m wondering whether or not you are providing additional lights. Are you messing with that light cycle?
Some hens release more than one yolk a day, there can be different reasons for that. It’s fairly common in pullets just starting to lay, but even older hen scan do it. If the two yolks are released at the same time you might get a double yolked egg. If there is some separation when they are released she can lay two or even more eggs in a day. Her body makes a limited amount of shell material in a day so if she lays more than one the shells are typically thin, soft, or totally shell-less with just a membrane holding them together. That’s why I’m wondering how good the shells are that she is laying at night.
It can sometimes take a pullet that is just starting to lay to work out all the kinks in this process. Most do that pretty quickly, it hardly ever takes more than a couple of weeks though they all work on their own schedule. Occasionally you get a pullet or hen that never gets control of the process. For whatever reasons those triggers just don’t work right. I don’t know of any way to train her to use the nests, I don’t think that’s the issue. I don’t think those triggers are working as they should, whether that is something wrong with her or something about the way you are managing them, probably the lights. Since it is one pullet and not some of them I think you got unlucky and got one of the rare ones that is not wired properly.
How are your other pullets doing with their eggs? When I have a problem I try to decide if it is a flock wide problem or just one individual. That way I don’t treat the entire flock for an individual problem. The way you describe it this sounds like an individual problem but I’ll ask anyway.
How old is she and how long was she laying in the nest? I see she has been laying from the roost for two weeks. How hard are the shells on the broken eggs, how do the shells compare to the other hens’ eggs? I see you are in New Hampshire, thanks for that information. Are you extending lights or do they follow the sun as far as waking and bedtime?
When a pullet first starts to lay you can get all kinds of weird eggs and they can be dropped about anywhere. The internal egg making factory is pretty complicated, it takes some pullets a while to work out all the bugs. That’s not just getting the parts of the egg right (the shell, yolk, and whites) but releasing the correct number of yolks and when to release them. Most have some control over when the egg is laid from the start but some take a while to gain some control over the egg laying process. Some can delay laying the egg but some seem to have no control over that initially and just drop it wherever they happen to be. As complicated as the entire system is it’s surprising how many get it all right to start with.
It normally takes about 25 hours for an egg to make it through the hen’s internal egg making factory. It can be more or less but normally around 25 hours from the time a yolk is released to start that internal journey until the egg is laid. There are certain triggers that tell a hen when to release that yolk to start that journey. One of them is when she lays an egg, a yolk is usually released a few minutes after that. Another trigger is light. If it is too late in the day to start an egg so it can be laid during daylight, then the hen delays releasing that yolk until the following morning. That’s why I’m wondering whether or not you are providing additional lights. Are you messing with that light cycle?
Some hens release more than one yolk a day, there can be different reasons for that. It’s fairly common in pullets just starting to lay, but even older hen scan do it. If the two yolks are released at the same time you might get a double yolked egg. If there is some separation when they are released she can lay two or even more eggs in a day. Her body makes a limited amount of shell material in a day so if she lays more than one the shells are typically thin, soft, or totally shell-less with just a membrane holding them together. That’s why I’m wondering how good the shells are that she is laying at night.
It can sometimes take a pullet that is just starting to lay to work out all the kinks in this process. Most do that pretty quickly, it hardly ever takes more than a couple of weeks though they all work on their own schedule. Occasionally you get a pullet or hen that never gets control of the process. For whatever reasons those triggers just don’t work right. I don’t know of any way to train her to use the nests, I don’t think that’s the issue. I don’t think those triggers are working as they should, whether that is something wrong with her or something about the way you are managing them, probably the lights. Since it is one pullet and not some of them I think you got unlucky and got one of the rare ones that is not wired properly.
Hopethehen
Chirping
- Oct 18, 2017
- 76
- 35
- 51
I read it all. It took forever, but I actually gained stuff from it! Thank you.
- Thread starter
- #18
gardoqui
Chirping
Okay-
Coop size is 8x8x8
14 hens and one Roo
5 layers - 4 production reds and one Domonique
We have two wydanotts that are getting ready to lay
We have two Orpington’s that are 5 months not laying yet
3 FBCM that are 4.5 months not laying yet
Two EE that are 4 months not laying of course
They have 5 nesting boxes. Three in coop and two in one of the two indoor runs we have. The run with boxes was an old horse stall so it’s big and one box is on a milk crate up off ground with a top and it’s used often. The other is the kind that is affixed to Wall they use that one too.
The three in coop - two are wooden and elevated off ground and one is under roosting boards on floor. That one is used some times. It seems the ones who are not laying yet are going in and trying to figure it out. Plenty of room,options and clean. No photos since they are all roosting for night.
Since I have a mixed flock in ages they get organic grower crumbles but I mix some organic layer pellet 1/4 ratio and I hope by next month all layer but we will see. They also free range part of the day.
Oyster shell and grit readily available and eaten and 4 water options.
My chickens live in a palace basically.
- Thread starter
- #19
gardoqui
Chirping
It’s her, I put a box with shavings under her at night so the egg doesn’t break. Her egg is awesome no issues.
There is light but it’s only on from 730 to 5 so not to mess with them. I don’t want to extend their cycle so when we turn the clocks it will be off by 430pm and I let them out at 730 every morning regardless of daylight. Coop is inside a barn so it’s not bright but they have two o door large runs and outdoor run and free range area.
She layer for a few weeks prior to the change.
I have a similar problem. I have 3 hens who are approx 3 1/2 yrs old so not laying much anymore, and 7 pullets who started laying late this summer. All but one have been laying in the nest boxes; the oddball was laying on the floor just inside the henhouse door. I had to watch where I was stepping when I entered. Later I discovered another was building a nice little clutch outside, next to the garage - I found 16 eggs! I got them up and I don't have any idea what she's been doing with her eggs in the meantime.
Eventually, however, I was finding more and more eggs on the floor. I started laying things on the floor to make it more difficult to find a place to lay, but that didn't work ... sneaky chickens. So, I filled an old litter box with nesting material and put some dummy eggs in there. Tah-dah! MOST eggs were either the new box or the original nest boxes, with only a couple of strays. After about 5 days, thinking they had the idea, I took the dummies out. Bad move. They've stopped laying in the new box OR the original box. Even my last holdout, an EE who's consistently laid in the original nest boxes, laid her green egg on the floor today. Chicken see, chicken do.
I'll put the dummies back in the boxes in the morning, but what do I do about the few stubborn "bad examples" who have always laid on the floor? I've had chickens for 5-6 years, and this is a first for me.
Eventually, however, I was finding more and more eggs on the floor. I started laying things on the floor to make it more difficult to find a place to lay, but that didn't work ... sneaky chickens. So, I filled an old litter box with nesting material and put some dummy eggs in there. Tah-dah! MOST eggs were either the new box or the original nest boxes, with only a couple of strays. After about 5 days, thinking they had the idea, I took the dummies out. Bad move. They've stopped laying in the new box OR the original box. Even my last holdout, an EE who's consistently laid in the original nest boxes, laid her green egg on the floor today. Chicken see, chicken do.
I'll put the dummies back in the boxes in the morning, but what do I do about the few stubborn "bad examples" who have always laid on the floor? I've had chickens for 5-6 years, and this is a first for me.
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