Why is my hen laying her eggs on the roost?

[mariaschickens]

This is the second time i've found an egg on the roost floor! Anyone know why my hen would lay while roosting instead of getting in her nesting box?

 

[hennotrooster]

Could she or another hen be pushing the eggs out of the nesting box? Mine will do this on occasion.

 

[TweeTea]

My girls have laid a couple in the roost area (completely seperate from the nest box) and I put it down to rearrangements in the pen. I had moved stuff around. I have also had thinner shelled eggs once or twice in the roost which I think were prematurely laid from some sort of shock or scare while roosting.

How consistently has she been laying in the roost? If she is laying there every day you may have something disturbing your nest area making it feel less secure. Look for evidence of mice/rats/racoons/possums etc whatever the local animals are that steal eggs or food or make a general nuisance of themselves.

 

[RWise]

I find an egg on the floor once in a while, the hen just refuses to use any other nest but hers. Everybody else uses the same nest, except they will use another nest if the one they want is busy. Picky picky picky,,

 

[Ridgerunner]

How old are they? How long have they been laying?

It’s not totally unusual for a pullet’s first egg or two to come as a surprise to her. It’s like she doesn’t know what’s going on. That’s just part of her needing to get the kinks out of all the parts of her internal egg laying factory. I’ve found pullet’s first eggs under the roosts, on the coop floor, or even out in the run. She just hasn’t learned control yet.

If they are older and have been laying a while, it is something else. But if she is just starting to lay, there is nothing wrong or unusual about it.

To me it is amazing how many actually get it right to start with.

 

[debid]

How old are they? How long have they been laying?

It’s not totally unusual for a pullet’s first egg or two to come as a surprise to her. It’s like she doesn’t know what’s going on. That’s just part of her needing to get the kinks out of all the parts of her internal egg laying factory. I’ve found pullet’s first eggs under the roosts, on the coop floor, or even out in the run. She just hasn’t learned control yet.

If they are older and have been laying a while, it is something else. But if she is just starting to lay, there is nothing wrong or unusual about it.

To me it is amazing how many actually get it right to start with.

My thoughts exactly. My SS laid her first few eggs on the roost and then figured it out. Never again after that.

 

[mariaschickens]

Thanks everyone, i just needed to make sure this was semi-normal. I dont see any evidence of critters, could possibly be her first egg or two (i have a few hens that have just started laying). I dont think they are rolloing out of the nesting boxes, bc i have bumpers on the fronts of them. And i could totally see one or two of my hens just being picky! Anyway, thanks again!

 

[jak2002003]

I have one crazy pullet that always likes to fly up on top my bamboo hedge, lay her egg - which then falls through the hedge branches to smash on the ground! Hope she will grow out of doing it.

 

[mnhomestead]

I have found a couple eggs under the roost too. My girls were new to laying as well, but it sure is frustrating to find and egg under there with all the poop. I had an older hen start to eat one that must have broken when it fell, I was really nervous that she would start to eat other eggs but never noticed it and now the older hens are gone so I don't have to worry about her teaching it to the others.

 

[debid]

I have found a couple eggs under the roost too. My girls were new to laying as well, but it sure is frustrating to find and egg under there with all the poop. I had an older hen start to eat one that must have broken when it fell, I was really nervous that she would start to eat other eggs but never noticed it and now the older hens are gone so I don't have to worry about her teaching it to the others.

They'll eat a broken egg if they find one -- it doesn't mean they will destroy eggs in the nest. When my Maggie was roost-laying, three eggs bounced and two cracked. Then, I also had a hen start laying soft-shells due to stress from worm infestation and a couple of those were dropped from the roost. No egg eating behaviors arose.