I have not caught who is doing it but today I found two eggs on the sand floor of the coop/run. For the last week I have found at least one a day on the ledge outside the nest boxes or on the floor of coop/run. Dolly (sex link) is OCD about the nest boxes so she is the prime suspect. Some are still warm so they were just laid, some have begun to chill. I do not see how they manage to get them out of the nest boxes without breaking them on the ledge.
Yes, I have found eggs right outside the nest box intact- rolled out by a hen. Amazing that they can do it so carefully.
I have been having this issue to for the last week. I kept thinking maybe one was just laying on the ground, but the other day before it snowed Dh let the girls out they all ran out and then he saw one run back in, when he went inside the coop there was an egg on the ground in front of the feeder, it wasn't there before he let the girls out, and he checked the egg and it wasn't warm nor cold, but somewhere in between, so we think the culprit went in pushed it out and then left the building, lol, this happened the whole week, I worked the whole week, so on my day off I went in the coop checked all the next boxes for any issues Dh might not have caught and then gave them treats. this morning all 21 eggs were inside the nests I did hear from Dh that 2 of the hens are constantly chasing each other around, and I saw that yesterday before lights out in the coop, I took the aggressive hen and placed her under my arm until I was done what needed to be done and she stopped chasing the other hen, so if I was to take a guess the aggressive hen may not like the other hens egg in her nest. there are 11 nests in the coop and I got 21 hens, only 5 nest boxes are used, the rest are used to jump back and forth in....lol...
Mine moved an egg yesterday. I found it outside of the nest box in the coop. However, it should be noted, I just replaced their old coop with the new and improved version. This resulted in their nest box being relocated. I think this resulted in an egg mutiny. I blame my EE, Xena. I've seen her "working" the eggs around the nest box in the past. Usually, she moves them beneath her and simulates a broody behavior. But, yesterday, I think she was a little confused. Has anything changed in your nest box? Different nesting materials, moved, re-positioned, anything like that?
