Time-Out Bird Drops an Egg ?!?!?

[Chiquey]

I was doing the usual earlier, hanging with the girls, sharing a few treats, gossiping while doing our nails, etc... (ha)

I noticed one of the hens standing in the far corner of the coop facing outward. I remarked to my husband that it looked as if Millie had been put in "Time out." (Note: Millie is one of the two "Coop Queens." She always gets her way - unless she and Gertrude are at odds - and she's one of my most steady layers. I can count on Millie's egg between 11 and noon, at least 5 days a week.) She stood there for at least ten minutes, not so much as turning her head to look at the rest of the bunch. A movement caught my eye, and I looked up seconds before an egg dropped from her vent, rolled a few inches, and stopped. Before I could say a word, the other chickens were all over it. She stayed in her corner for a couple more minutes, then came out and went about her business as usual.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this?

 

[krista74]

One of my girls did this once. Just sort of isolated herself from the group, stood in the corner, laid her egg, and then wandered off like it was nothing new.

In my case, I think the reason behind it was because somebody else was already in her favourite nest.

She is a bit finicky, this one. She wants to lay alone. No-one in the nest next to her. Preferably no-one in the coop full stop!

Under no circumstances will she lower herself to use an inferior (aka: Not mine) nest box. Apparently, the ghetto (corner of the coop) is the next best spot!

I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Sometimes they are just little weirdos

Krista

 

[iwiw60]

That's funny...well, let's face it...chickens are funny! How many hens do you have and how many nest boxes? Does she normally lay in the nest box?

 

[Chiquey]

One of my girls did this once. Just sort of isolated herself from the group, stood in the corner, laid her egg, and then wandered off like it was nothing new.

In my case, I think the reason behind it was because somebody else was already in her favourite nest.

She is a bit finicky, this one. She wants to lay alone. No-one in the nest next to her. Preferably no-one in the coop full stop!

Under no circumstances will she lower herself to use an inferior (aka: Not mine) nest box. Apparently, the ghetto (corner of the coop) is the next best spot!

I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Sometimes they are just little weirdos

Krista

Thanks, Krista. Feeling a little better.

 

[Chiquey]

That's funny...well, let's face it...chickens are funny! How many hens do you have and how many nest boxes? Does she normally lay in the nest box?

We have 3 nest boxes, though the girls share only 2 of them. For some reason they avoid the third box. Of our 9 girls, 5 are currently laying and the other 4 should be blessing us with those first eggs within the next 2 or 3 weeks.

Millie is a nest box regular -- always the middle box for her, thank you very much. As I said earlier, she's steady as a rock. That's what made tonight's event even more odd to me.