One chicken laying on coop floor

[Yogi Hollow Farm]

Hi everyone, We’re new here. We have 11 chickens that recently started laying. We had 12 and the two that started laying first laid on the floor. Then the 12 th chicken was taken by a predator. One Golden Comet is continuously laying on the coop floor. She now lays under the roosts which is gross. We have tried: golf balls in the nests, moving her egg to the nest, moving the egg to the nest placing her on the egg she laid in the nest. We put strips of fabric on the front of the nests, it’s quiet and dark in that section of the coop and all the other chickens lay in the nest boxes. We have 6 nest boxes because we plan to expand our flock. We assume she hasn’t figured it out yet as there appears to be no other stress or reason. Thoughts? Thanks in advance!

 

[chickenlittle21]

Just wash off your golden comet's eggs. I have a couple hens that do stuff like that. My golden sex link, Goldie, lays on top of the nesting boxes and her egg rolls on to the floor and my speckled sussex, Clover, lays her egg wherever she feels like. Yesterday her egg was right in the front of the door.

 

[cherrynberry]

Is there hay, straw, or wood chips on your coop floor?

 

[Yogi Hollow Farm]

Wood chips.

 

[Yogi Hollow Farm]

Just wash off your golden comet's eggs. I have a couple hens that do stuff like that. My golden sex link, Goldie, lays on top of the nesting boxes and her egg rolls on to the floor and my speckled sussex, Clover, lays her egg wherever she feels like. Yesterday her egg was right in the front of the door.

Haha thanks! That’s what we have been doing. Funny thing is it is below where she roosts. We have a camera that works on motion but haven’t caught her yet. I swear it falls out of her when she is sleeping! Lol

 

[Yogi Hollow Farm]

We were going to add a nest on the floor away from the roosts but I don’t think that’s a good idea and may encourage others to lay there.

 

[chickenlittle21]

What bedding is in the nesting boxes?

 

[Shadrach]

Hi everyone, We’re new here. We have 11 chickens that recently started laying. We had 12 and the two that started laying first laid on the floor. Then the 12 th chicken was taken by a predator. One Golden Comet is continuously laying on the coop floor. She now lays under the roosts which is gross. We have tried: golf balls in the nests, moving her egg to the nest, moving the egg to the nest placing her on the egg she laid in the nest. We put strips of fabric on the front of the nests, it’s quiet and dark in that section of the coop and all the other chickens lay in the nest boxes. We have 6 nest boxes because we plan to expand our flock. We assume she hasn’t figured it out yet as there appears to be no other stress or reason. Thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Is this a hen, or a pullet? How old is she?
New laying pullets sometimes take a bit of time to work out when the egg is on its way. It's not uncommon for a pullet to sit in a nest box, do all the right stuff and then get up and head out with the egg still just inside her vent. She thinks she's laid it and here, it is not at all uncommon to see my running behind a new laying pullet, crouched down, trying to catch the egg as it finally falls out. Of course, me running behind them just worries them more and they just run faster.
Give her some time. If all your hens are pullets she has nobody senior to copy and it may take some time for her to work it all out.

 

[Yogi Hollow Farm]

What bedding is in the nesting boxes?

Wood chips

 

[Yogi Hollow Farm]

Is this a hen, or a pullet? How old is she?
New laying pullets sometimes take a bit of time to work out when the egg is on its way. It's not uncommon for a pullet to sit in a nest box, do all the right stuff and then get up and head out with the egg still just inside her vent. She thinks she's laid it and here, it is not at all uncommon to see my running behind a new laying pullet, crouched down, trying to catch the egg as it finally falls out. Of course, me running behind them just worries them more and they just run faster.
Give her some time. If all your hens are pullets she has nobody senior to copy and it may take some time for her to work it all out.

Hen as she has started laying. (That’s my understanding of when she moved from being a pullet anyway!). We have about 8 laying from same flock that grew up together