Possible egg pecker?

[Alexz7272]

One of our hens has JUST begun laying eggs! For the first two days, we found them in the nesting box in their coop. We open the door during the day as they are in an enclosed chicken run area to allow them to still have access to plants, bugs, etc. Well today I went in there (the same time the last two times) to gather the egg. It was not in the nesting box so I decided to look elsewhere. The hen had the egg at the door in and out of the chicken coop. She had her beak to the egg and seemed to tap it but I gathered the egg and inspected it, it appears to have no signs of someone forcefully pecking it and still had a nice smooth appearance. My worry is, is this potentially a warning sign that the hen might peck at her eggs? I have heard of it happening but this is our first flock so everything is very new and unknown to us! Also, should we be worried about her laying the egg outside of the nesting box? We know she has only started laying but want to try and fix any issues now, especially before any of our other 4 hens start laying.
Thank you in advance for any help or advice you guys can give us!!

 

[mrchicks]

Congrats on getting eggs, it's always so exciting when they start to lay.

She is new at this, so may have just been looking at it. Here and there one of my girls will lay on the poop deck, the floor or out in the run, 99% of the time they are in the proper place though. I'd just keep an eye on things for now.