one hen laid in the yard today

[jhowe0987]

I have four hens I have only had them for about a week now. We used porcelain eggs and they all four have laid in the nesting boxes. 3 of them lay pretty regularly. The fourth one(donut) had laid once in the nest about 4 days ago and then I found one of her eggs in the yard today. Should I be worried?

 

[cavemanrich]

I don't think it is an issue to worry about. Here are a few possibilities.. Nesting area occupied ... Chicken could not hold it long enough , and it just dropped. I could speculate all kind of scenarios. I am pasting an answer given by another person in a similar thread. chickengeorgeto and post #3 explains it very well. cavemanrich is not a plagarist.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/970090/laying-in-the-wrong-location



Hens lay eggs to perpetuate the species. Therefor they prefer to lay in locations that aid and support the incubation and development of eggs or chicken fetuses.


Dark, quite, secluded, out of the way, protected, isolated, and safe areas are those kinds of places. ESPECIALLY when the nest location is in contact with the Earth so that the eggs can maintain a cool enough temp to forestall early development until the hen begins to set in earnest and the natural humidity from Mother Earth can aid in both preserving the viability of the eggs until the hen takes to her nest while helping keep the humidity up when the hen goes into lock down mode just prior to hatching.


Therefor windows in a hen house that is not occupied 24/7 are counterproductive to any given hen laying in any specific nest box.


Only the teeming population of a commercial egg operation makes nest boxes seem like a hens' best option to lay eggs and hatch chicks.

 

[Spartan22]

I have four hens I have only had them for about a week now. We used porcelain eggs and they all four have laid in the nesting boxes. 3 of them lay pretty regularly. The fourth one(donut) had laid once in the nest about 4 days ago and then I found one of her eggs in the yard today. Should I be worried?

You only had them for a week, so they have not develop the habit of being consistent yet, she is probably still adjusting to her new environment and maybe she just forgot she has a nests. I've noticed with my 10 layers they sometime move around in different nests and sometime compete for one nest when there's more to choose from. Sometimes they lay on the floor or lay while roosting.

 

[Farmgirl0422]

I wouldn't be to worried about it. I'm guessing that the nesting boxes are just probably being used when she had to lay and egg.

 

[jhowe0987]

I wouldn't be to worried about it. I'm guessing that the nesting boxes are just probably being used when she had to lay and egg.

I have 4 nesting boxes...

 

[cavemanrich]

Quote:
Sometimes all your chickens will prefer a certain nesting box or two and not the others. That would possibly require a chicken psychiatrist to answer that one. It may be certain location to whatever ???????

 

[jhowe0987]

So I got 3 eggs today, all in the same nest. But now I have another concern. The one that laid in the yard yesterday laid in the nest where she was supposed to. The issue is her eggs are normally a light brown. Today it was white, it seemed a little oblong, and it has a blemish/weak spot on the side. I touched the area and it broke easily.

 

[cavemanrich]

The possibility may be low on calcium in their diet. If you are using layer feed , then it should be sufficient, but it is a good idea to provide crushed oyster shells available on the side. If you are using feed other than layer, then you really should provide the oyster shells. Oyster shells are not expensive and a bag goes a long way. Otherwise you will start getting weak egg shells and possibly soft egg shells as well. I am not telling you that you should start your chickens on a science diet. I just think that it is a sign of low calcium intake . Many here will suggest that you do. These are not straw people. PM me and I can provide names so you can read their posts. You feed your flock as you see it fit. Science diets have advantages especially when you are trying to make a profit from the eggs you sell.
WISHING YOU BEST

 

[w2teals]

I had the same issue with the blemish spot on my girls egg. I thought I was fine with the layer feed and then four eggs in a row had that spot that was super easy to break by just pushing on it a little bit. it was always on the end too. So I started giving oyster shell in a small dog bowl that they could pick at whenever they wanted... and in three days the eggs went back to normal, no cracks or soft blemishes. it worked for me, and its a cheap easy fix if that's the problem! Good luck!

 

[Three Silkies]

I think I'm having a similar problem. I have 4 hens and 3 nesting boxes. The mother hen is still laying in the box every day, but her three daughters (who have laid in the boxes every day for more than a year) haven't laid any eggs for at least a month. I'm wondering if they're laying in the yard somewhere. There's a bush that they like to hide under, but it's too dark and secluded for me to see. I thought they might be laying in there, but I don't know why they'd do that when they've been happily laying in the boxes for so long. They've been fighting a bit though, and I think they may also be moulting, so maybe they're just not laying at all.

On your other problem, I haven't tried oyster shells, but I use she'll grit. It's $4 a bag (several kilos) and lasts for at least a month. I forgot to add it for a month and got the soft eggs. I started adding it again and the eggs went back to normal straight away. I hope that helps.