My Hen Squatted & Out Came a Yolk! Worry?

[aart]

Your right about the weird eggs! We had 3 eggs this morning. 1 was no shell/barely enclosed egg. 1 was rubber shelled. 1 was shelled but cracked. However, they all laid these while they were on their roost last night. I've had the laying boxes open for a few weeks now. I've noticed they've been in 1 or 2, but won't lay eggs in them yet. Is this also usually in a new layer? I know some do tend to lay on ground regardless, but will most eventually find & accept the laying boxes? Thanks for all advice!

Are the nests easy to get up to and down from?
have they checked out the nests at all, got in there and scratched around a bit?
Are there some fake eggs/golf balls in all but one of them?
I had a pullet that wouldn't go in a nest with a fake egg at first, so I leave the out of one.

 

[cindytyner9]

My 6 hens are now 22 weeks old. I just noticed this morning that one of them has arranged the hay in what looks the the beginning of a nest. Is this an indication that one of the is fixing to lay?

 

[theoldchick]

The fake egg in the nest works well. I've had pullet who laid eggs while roosting at night. It's like they can't help it. And once a hen goes to roost at night she will not move to the nest box to lay her egg because chickens can't see that well in the dark.

Check out these wierdo eggs my pullets laid many years ago. Freaky man! Just Freaky!



Eventually things worked out and they all turned out to be good layers. And at 5 years of age they are still laying well.

 

[theoldchick]

My 6 hens are now 22 weeks old. I just noticed this morning that one of them has arranged the hay in what looks the the beginning of a nest. Is this an indication that one of the is fixing to lay?

Sure is!

 

[louisianachkn3]

Are the nests easy to get up to and down from?
have they checked out the nests at all, got in there and scratched around a bit?
Are there some fake eggs/golf balls in all but one of them?
I had a pullet that wouldn't go in a nest with a fake egg at first, so I leave the out of one.

Yes easy to get up and down from. Yes, they've checked out 2 of the boxes. Scratched around in them a bit. Covered the golf balls up in 2 of the boxes. There are 2 golf balls in each box. I'll try to take the golf balls out of one box I know they went into already. They have no trouble flying up to the top of the coop where there are roosts set up each night. The nesting boxes are no where near that height. We kept them closed off for awhile at first so they wouldn't roost in them which worked perfectly.

 

[cindytyner9]

How long do you think before she lays?

 

[louisianachkn3]

My 6 hens are now 22 weeks old. I just noticed this morning that one of them has arranged the hay in what looks the the beginning of a nest. Is this an indication that one of the is fixing to lay?

That's what mine are doing. The one hen made a little rounded out spot in the pine shavings directly under the roosts & the next day we had an egg.

But mine were also showing signs of maturity... squatting, big red combs & watts, etc.

 

[louisianachkn3]

Those are some freaky looking eggs! That's what 1 looked like this morning somewhat.

 

[cindytyner9]

Some of there waddles and combs are hugh and bright red. I have been noticing that them seem redder each day!

 

[theoldchick]

I put a basket on the floor of the coop, weighed it down with a large rock and covered the rock with a thick layer of hay. If the basket has high sides you can cut out a section to make it easier to get into. A cardboard box will work well, too, for a temporary solution.

The floor box works well for hens who can't compete with the dominant members of the flock.