My chicken won't use a nest to lay eggs

[chickfused]

I don't mean she won't use my nests, I mean she won't use any nests. She just plops them out whereever. I caught her with one nearly coming out her butt this morning, put her in a nest, and she fought me to get out. Plop, right on the ground as she is eating, generally. She seems to have no nesting instinct at all. Blue laced red wyandotte. Has been laying for about 2 weeks. Any ideas on how to get her to nest properly?

 

[DobieLover]

I don't mean she won't use my nests, I mean she won't use any nests. She just plops them out whereever. I caught her with one nearly coming out her butt this morning, put her in a nest, and she fought me to get out. Plop, right on the ground as she was eating. She seems to have no nesting instinct at all. Blue laced red wyandotte. Has been laying for about 2 weeks. Any ideas on how to get her to nest properly?

She's still new to it.
Can you post pictures of your nest box set up?
I assume you have no older hens to show her the ropes.

 

[chickfused]

I have 7 hens, including her. 6 of 7 use the boxes. I think she may be..."special". She seems confused by the world 99 times out of 100.

I physically put her in a nest to lay the egg, and she fought me to get out. I tried 3 different ones w/ different layouts (in case she didn't like the first one) and had no different result.

 

[Ridgerunner]

She seems to have no nesting instinct at all.

When pullets first start to lay some don't seem to mmediately have that nesting instinct, they just drop the egg wherever they are. The egg laying process is pretty complex, some pullets just don't get it right for a while. That's not just putting the egg together properly in their body but when and where to lay it. They may lay an egg from the roost at night or, like yours, just walking around. Most get it right to start with but I've had some that take a while to gain control over that part of the egg laying process.

I understand you are not trying to attract her to a specific nest or just any of your nests. She won't even return to an area somewhere else to lay an egg. She seems totally oblivious that the egg is coming.

Practically all of mine that have that problem figure it out in a few days. They either start laying in one of my nests or at least return to the same spot every time to lay the egg. Two weeks is a long time but she may eventually catch on. I don't know of any way to train her to at least go to a nest, her own or one of yours. My suggestion is to continue to give her time.

I had one that was special in certain other ways, even as a baby chick. Two floats and a marching band short of a parade. Her instincts and problem solving skills just were never that good. I made sure to not hatch any of her eggs.

Maybe closer to your case I had a pullet that never did learn to lay her egg during the day but always dropped her egg from the roost at night. There are certain triggers that tell a hen when to release a yolk so the egg will be ready to lay during daylight. Those instincts were not there for that pullet, she was laying that egg from the roost for over a month. And they should have enough control to delay laying the egg for a while if she needs to anyway. I figured a month was long enough so I ate her. I raise replacement pullets and eat the ones that don't make the cut to keep so she made that decision easy.
I'll repeat, I don't know any way to instill instincts that aren't there. She may still catch on so you can give her more time. Good luck!

 

[chickfused]

LOL! I hope I don't have to eat her. She's absolutely beautiful. She was dropping from the roost at night, but now she at least goes to the ground for the most part. I'm inclined to think it's just that she's hungry more than any idea she's laying an egg.

Thanks!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I physically put her in a nest to lay the egg, and she fought me to get out. I tried 3 different ones w/ different layouts (in case she didn't like the first one) and had no different result.

Too bad that didn't work, that's what I do. I suppose if you want to try a really hardcore version of the same you could fashion a wire mesh door that locks over the nest box, so it would force her to stay in until she laid, but I don't know how she'd take that if she was so upset to be put in the nest in the first place. Is she otherwise ok with being handled, or is she unaccustomed to being handled so the prospect of being "detained" was just too upsetting for her?

 

[chickfused]

She doesn't like to be handled. It seems to confuse her. A strong breeze seems to confuse her though, so IDK.

I should also note that at some point today, probably because I posted my dilemma here, I think she went and used a nest if I counted eggs right.

Freakin' chickens.

 

[Happy hen lover]

Mine are a year old and once in awhile I'll find one in run. I think she wants her fav.bix but it's busy so she just plops it out! She's not even my "special" one!