Random egg dropping in young hens - Black copper marans

[MyLittleRedCoop]

I have 25 hens, of varying ages and breeds.

I have 8 nesting boxes, in a row, with curtains in front of the openings, located under the roost/poop board. I also have a kitty litter bucket nest box, off in a different corner, for a black copper marans hen who refuses to lay her eggs in the normal nests. Some are more "covered" than others, so everyone should be able to find a spot that is to their desired level of privacy.

2 of my hens, a pair of 6 month old black copper marans, have recently started laying. A couple times I have found their eggs in the same corner, kitty litter bucket the older marans hen uses. The rest of the time, I am finding their eggs in the litter on the poop board.

Is there some quirky black copper marans nesting secret that isn't mentioned in all the breed references I've looked at?! I figured out how to work around my older BCM (I just put the nest box where she kept laying her eggs). But short of putting a nest box on the roost, does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Sometimes new layers will lay during the night. It happens every so often in my flock. It will resolve itself in time.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

Sometimes new layers will lay during the night. It happens every so often in my flock. It will resolve itself in time.

I agree, I also notice it happens with my ladies more when it is cold. When I say cold I mean 15F or lower. I think they are all snuggled up on their roost and just don't want to give up their spot. But, that is only a theory since I can't read their minds.

 

[MyLittleRedCoop]

But this is mid-day, after I've opened the pop door for the day and everyone is up and moving. I have been going to the coop more often to try to collect the eggs before they freeze. I'm finding these between Noon and 3pm.
I was just thinking that maybe, they (in general, as a breed) prefer a lighter or more open nesting area? I just found it an odd coincidence that the only hens (out of 10 different breeds) that don't want to lay in the normal nest boxes are all BCMs...

 

[aart]

Maybe remove the curtains from a few nests and add some golf balls in there for the newbies to get the idea?