Only Laying In One Nesting Box

[Nashv755]

Legend has it. Chickens naturally lay in the same spot to build a stockpile. They also have a better chance to go broody once they have about a 10 egg collection. Many times they play the egg song to inform everybody where the "new spot" is. Mine found a new spot today and stood around singing for about 10 minutes.

 

[Happy hen lover]

Mine prefer the one farthest from door also. Once in awhile I'll find a random egg in run on ground ( I think this happens when they can't hold it waiting for the "special box" to open up) even tho there is the exact box next to that one! They're just weird that way.

 

[aart]

I removed the fake eggs though because it made Broody Girl try to hatch eggs for a few weeks straight, even though the eggs were not fertilized and i had to hand feed her every day to prevent starvation.

If you don't want a broody to hatch, use a broody breaker crate.
Put the fake eggs back in the other nests.

 

[ccoscina]

Goldie Girl and White Girl say Good Morning to you all
I just took this picture. No fighting, just hangin out.

 

[ccoscina]

Legend has it. Chickens naturally lay in the same spot to build a stockpile. They also have a better chance to go broody once they have about a 10 egg collection. Many times they play the egg song to inform everybody where the "new spot" is. Mine found a new spot today and stood around singing for about 10 minutes.

Ah! This is very enlightening. Yes I have noticed that once they have at least 5 eggs it can trigger the broody instincts. Otherwise they keep trying to accumulate more eggs. So it makes sense that laying in the same place is the best way for them to build a stockpile.

And their self preservation instincts seem more based on the flock than the individual. Once Broody Girl setup a nest in one of the other boxes, the other girls would squeeze in there and pop eggs out so that Broody Girl could hatch their eggs. It was teamwork! And I have read that hens don't mind hatching eggs laid by other hens. Their flock mindset is truly profound.

 

[KitchenFamilyFarm]

Add me to the list of people whose hens ignore identical nest boxes to wage war over a single box. It's not unheard of to come out and find hens perched on top of each other in one box -- while all the adjacent boxes are empty.

Recently, my Cochin girls have decided to wait in line. However, the wait is punctuated by what can best be described as chickens "screams" as they "encourage" their sisters to work faster and get out of the way!

I identify with this one. Every morning when I go out to clean the coop & open the boxes I can’t listen to podcasts or anything because of all the screaming!