New layer questions...

[happylittlehens]

One of my almost 20 week leghorns laid her first egg yesterday. This is the first time I have ever raised chickens so I have a couple questions. They have nesting boxes ready. I even put golf balls in them so they would know where to lay. For the last few days all 3 of the boxes have been messed up like one of the girls is getting them ready. Yet, I found the egg in the middle of their yard by the water bucket! Not even near the coop. Did she lay it in the yard by accident? Don't they normally try to find a safe private area to lay? Also the little egg had some blood streaked on the outside. Is this normal for a new layer? I hope she is ok. I didn't notice any blood on any of the girls. I'm still not positive which leghorn it was. Here is a pic of our first egg! Isn't it just cute as can be!?

 

[Wyandottes7]

Congratulations on your first egg!

New layers often lay eggs in the wrong places. She should soon learn to use the nest boxes. However, if another bird is scaring her away from the coop, or if she can't go into the coop without being attacked, she will not want to lay in a nest box. Or, if she doesn't think that a nest box is secluded enough, she will find another place.

As for the blood on the egg, she is probably fine. It was her first time laying an egg, so her body might have had some difficulty pushing the egg out. I wouldn't worry.

 

[Veer67]

The blood is probably caused by a rupture of a blood vessel.

 

[Crazycomb]

All of my girls have just started laying and I am finding eggs everywhere outside the coop, in the grass, behind the water container, etc. I am hoping pretty soon that they start using their nesting boxes. I do have one smart girl that uses the box. I am sure with time they will all get with the program

 

[dearnley]

i have easter egg i n my nesting boxes i hope they get the hang of this

 

[happylittlehens]

Congratulations on your first egg! New layers often lay eggs in the wrong places. She should soon learn to use the nest boxes. However, if another bird is scaring her away from the coop, or if she can't go into the coop without being attacked, she will not want to lay in a nest box. Or, if she doesn't think that a nest box is secluded enough, she will find another place. As for the blood on the egg, she is probably fine. It was her first time laying an egg, so her body might have had some difficulty pushing the egg out. I wouldn't worry.

Thank you! Good to know she will hopefully get the hang of the nesting box. I'm pretty sure she isn't being attacked or pushed out of the coop since all 3 leghorns are pretty high up in the pecking order. It was probably just an "oops didn't make it inside" kind of thing. Hopefully the next one will be in the box!

 

[tetley2003]

I had a few eggs in odd places at first but now everyone is in the nesting box every day. They soon get the hang of it so don't worry

 

[Veer67]

Once one of my hens layed an egg with a soft shell!

 

[tetley2003]

I had a few soft shell eggs too. In just a few days this stopped happening and I now have all good hard shelled eggs every day

 

[happylittlehens]

I had a few eggs in odd places at first but now everyone is in the nesting box every day. They soon get the hang of it so don't worry

I checked at lunch today and there was an egg in the nesting box! I'm not sure if it was the same girl or another leghorn, but I'm pretty sure it was the same one and she knew what was happening this time. Hopefully the others will follow her lead