perch layer

Missbehavin · Mar 8, 2013

I have 6 chickens and all but one have started laying. All but one are laying during the day. I have one chicken laying sometime during the night and laying from the perch. This morning I went out and found an egg broken but the yolk was still intact. I put the egg in a bowl to get rid of inside. When I put it in the sink i could not brake the yolk. I had to cut it with a knife. The membrane was so thick that it looks like plastic. Do you think something is wrong with her or do you think it's because she is young and dark in there that she doesn't want to go to the nest box? What would make the membrane like that? The shell was separate from the inside of the egg. I basically just picked up the inside of the egg and put it in a cup. It was like the yolk had another membrane around it.

ChickenCanoe · Mar 8, 2013

Lots of odd things happen to new layers until their innards and their brains get into a routine.

The yolk was probably hard because it had dried out during the night.

Pullets eventually get into a routine of producing an egg every 26 or so hours. That means they get later and later every day till they skip a day and all that would have been laid at night, they wait and lay in the morning. Sometimes they just let it slip out from the roost.
If the others are using the nest she eventually will too. They usually like a darker space but some like it lighter. If the behavior continues, adjust the amount of light reaching into the nest. Also, a fake egg or golf ball left in the nest gives them the hint.

Log in / Register

Forums

perch layer

Missbehavin In the Brooder

ChickenCanoe Free Ranging

BackYard Chickens is proudly sponsored by