Would a fake egg discourage egg laying?

[sydneyroo]

I have four hens that I obtained recently that are all coming of laying age: two white leghorns, an ameraucana, and a RIR. The RIR laid two eggs in the two days after we got her, but hadn't laid since. The Ameraucana started laying a few weeks ago.

I put a fake brown egg in the nest box soon after the girls moved in and the Ameracauna has been consistently using the box. My husband took the fake egg out yesterday saying he thought maybe it was "stopping up the RIR" and sure enough, she laid an egg this morning! Does that make any sense? Would seeing a brown egg in there stop her from laying? Can chickens even tell color? I'm wondering if anyone has experienced something similar or if I can chalk this up to coincidence.

Still waiting on my Leghorns to lay, but maybe if they see the two other girls doing it they'll hop on the band wagon.

 

[PortageGirl]

nah, the fake egg won't discourage them or stop em, mine all lay em in the same place egg or no egg. It was pure coincedence that your hen layed an egg the day it was removed. first eggs are very irregular till they get going.

 

[shelleyd2008]

No, that doesn't make any sense. I hate it when some people act like they know everything! My dad is the exact same way, irks me to no end!

The reason your RIR layed 2 eggs right after you got her, then not again until today is because she was moved, not because there was a fake egg in the nest. Moving a chicken to a new home (whether that's from one owner to another, or from one part of the yard to another) can throw off their cycle for up to 4 weeks. She laid those 2 eggs when you got her, because those eggs were already forming. Then, as a result of the move, she stopped laying until now.

Fake eggs teach the hens where to lay, they'll most always lay in a nest that already has an egg in it, even if it's just a golf ball

 

[sydneyroo]

Shelley, that's exactly what I thought! My husband is so sure that taking the egg out is what prompted her to lay but I just couldn't believe that would be true. She laid her egg in there with the green one from the ameracauna and it seems like if a very realistic fake egg would psych her out, so would a real egg. It's not like she was holding on to her egg waiting for an opportunity to set it down somewhere there wasn't already a brown egg.