Ok now that was just weird

[ladycat]

It was kind of funny the other day when I got 3 double yolk eggs in the same day after not getting any at all for a long while, but what happened today was downright strange.

I have my Marans set up in pairs, trios, and quads. I have them in dog exercise pens, and allow 8 square feet per bird- 4'x4' for a pair, 4'x6' for a trio, and 4'x8' for a quad. These are plain flat dirt bottoms, where NOTHING can hide.

I use small plastic totes for nest boxes. The entry hole has to be big enough for the hen to get in, but it leaves a short lip. I can't put much shavings in because it gets scratched out, so there's maybe 1/2" to 3/4" shavings in each one, just enough to cover the floor. Even so, if there are fewer eggs than hens, I run my fingers through the shavings to make sure I didn't miss any. There is NO WAY an egg can get buried and hidden.

I also want to point out, the last time I check for eggs each day is very late, when twilight is already around the corner. I make sure I get all eggs that were laid that day.

So yesterday, 1 hen out of a pair that lays almost every day without fail didn't lay.

I also have two quads next to each other, and I always get 4 to 6 eggs between those two quads, but yesterday I got 2 eggs total from those two quads. Which worried me a bit, I was afraid they're about to start slowing down.

The first incident today, when I got into the pen where that one pair is - the hen that didn't lay yesterday - there were TWO eggs. That was a real head-scratcher. But I know without doubt she did not lay yesterday. Period.

But it gets weirder.

Of the two neighboring quads where I only got two total eggs yesterday, there was two in the first nest box I checked. Good, back to normal.

But wait- when I got to the next quad, there were FOUR eggs. Out of 3 hens???? How did this happen?

2 eggs from one hen was a fluke, but 4 eggs from three hens in the same day?

What happened?

 

[chooks4life]

Are they all the same age? If they are, and especially if they're related, it's possible they're moving onto two-a-day which can sometimes result in overnight-laid eggs and other anomalies like doubleyolkers etc. If they're all from the same breeder I'd expect it's got a lot to do with genetics.

Best wishes.

 

[ladycat]

Are they all the same age? If they are, and especially if they're related, it's possible they're moving onto two-a-day which can sometimes result in overnight-laid eggs and other anomalies like doubleyolkers etc. If they're all from the same breeder I'd expect it's got a lot to do with genetics.

Best wishes.

No, not the same age.

One hen is a Black Tail Buff. I bought my BTB's as chicks from a breeder.

The other hen is a Black Copper I hatched from my own stock. My BCM's originally came from a completely different source than my BTBs.

I've had chickens for decades and if any hen ever laid more than 1 egg in a day I was never aware of it.

The only thing I can think of is, the eggs went unlaid for some reason while another egg was still forming. Then 2 days worth of eggs got laid on the same day.

 

[chooks4life]

That is odd. Sometimes things in their environment throw their endocrine systems off. I've had two-a-day layers of a few breeds before, but wouldn't again. The quality of the eggs suffers when they are producing at such a pace. I prefer eggs that had the time taken to make them taste and feel right.