has anyone experienced this problem? I have gone out 2 mornings in a row to find an egg on the ground under my alpha hen Sqwelch. Is she too lazy to make it to the nest box or what? How can I fix this egg laying problem?
Is she a new layer? If so they maybe catching her by surprise and things should work out shortly. Is there enough light for her to see to get to the nest boxes? Chickens can not see very well in the dark which is why once they have roosted for the night they usually stay there. I have a nightlight bulb in my coop because of the tiny window DH put in doesn't let any moon/star light or yard light in and it's pitch black without it!
I agree with FK - if she's a new layer, her plumbing might just not be at 100% quite yet. I would also suggest putting some golf balls or fake eggs in the nest boxes - hens like to lay eggs where others lay. This might help as well. Good luck!
I had a red sexlink do this, the eggs would crack and then the other hens would eat them. Took a little while to figure out that this was happening, at first I thought I just had a bunch of egg eaters. After awhile the sexlink learned to lay in the nest, and no more eggs were eaten.
I found some soft eggs under the roost shortly after they started laying. I put golf balls in the nest boxes and so far I haven't found any eggs out of the boxes, and I give them plenty of free choice oyster shells in a dish which I keep pretty full next to their feeder. People that get my eggs tell me how hard the shells are.