**polish is laying eggs on the floor or from the roost, how to I get her to lay in the boxes?

[JodiLynn]

Yesterday afternoon I found a broken egg on the floor of the coop. I have 2 hens laying and possible a polish. (they free-range bu havent seen any eggs of that size) The coop is open during the day and they come and go, normally laying in the boxes. I do have 2 roosters, one is an outcast and keeps to himself. Do roosters break open eggs? It doesnt look like anything ate it but it is broken open. Both of my girls are early afternoon layers, could this be one of the hens? It was pretty far from nest boxes, could it be a squirrel? Any advice on how to "decode" this mystery would be greatly appriciated! I cannot have an egg eater!

 

[JodiLynn]

After examining the egg again I realize that it looks crushed or stepped on. Also my 2nd hen laid her egg for the day which means the broken egg had to have come from the polish. My new question is how do I get her to lay in the boxes instead of the floor? I have 5 guineas who follow around a hen and they can be rowdy when running around the coop (they also are free-ranged and come and go as they please.

 

[TwoCrows]

You could try using fake eggs in the nest boxes. Leaving the real eggs in the boxes can lead to breakage of the eggs and of course once they start eating eggs, it is difficult to get them to stop. Keep collecting the good eggs. The fake eggs should entice them to lay in the proper places.

I had young pullet once that refused to use the boxes. I started keeping an eye on her and knew when she was going to lay. So every time I caught her sitting on the floor of the coop to lay, I picked her up and placed her in the box. Took a few days of this, but she eventually got the hang of it.