Reliable laying Hens suddenly not laying in nesting boxes! Help

[Julieugar]

I have 5 hens, 4 are lovely reliable egg layers.the fifth hen is a new layer, and has just never gotten the knack of laying in the box. ( i keep 5 different breeds of chickens so I can tell who’s eggs Im getting, they are free rangers, and have always laid in their boxes) however, number 5, Her first egg a month ago was left in our driveway. And since then only have seen two more eggs, also laid in totally random places, our front mat, a neighbors walkway. I thought she’d grow out of it—-but now it seems her odd behavior is spreading to my other girls. And I’m freaking out. Egg production for two of my hens were really low this week, and lo and behold I found an egg on our driveway from one of the other girls. Help please!

 

[nuthatched]

Since you're finding eggs in the open, on hard surfaces, I'm guessing you have a crow or ravens issue.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Do you have a run? Might need to lock them in the run for a few days/weeks to get them reliably back to using the nests again.

 

[Loving my girls]

Hi hun,
Poor you but, mostly poor girlz they must be pretty freaked if they are laying all over the place.
Alternatively did they invite the guest ? No, I think not ! I’m sure they would have asked their mum first so … damn (as a general term, I mean no religious offence) that critter, if that’s the problem.
I think that, I personally, would go with the advice from both our Wise BYC’s (I was going to say Wise Old but felt that could be considered offensive )
I think I would shut them in the run for a week to check they are happy with the boxes, which I think they will be, and give you a chance to watch the enclosure to look for the attempted entry of unwanted guests.
Either way, if you have one, set up a movement detector camera ?
Just an idea ?
Hugz

 

[Nomadicus]

I agree with keeping them in a run for a week until they get the hang of laying in the approved of next boxes. That has worked for me in the past. I would put a plastic egg in each box (or a real egg if necessary for some) and they would soon be laying where I had put their boxes. They do need a darker area of the coop normally to like laying where you want them to lay.

 

[aart]

Do you have a run? Might need to lock them in the run for a few days/weeks to get them reliably back to using the nests again.

Ditto Dat^^

Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop/run for a week or so can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop and maybe run 24/7 for a few days to a week, provided you have adequate space and ventilation, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

 

[Julieugar]

Since you're finding eggs in the open, on hard surfaces, I'm guessing you have a crow or ravens issue.

Explain?

 

[nuthatched]

Explain?

They steal eggs and like to open them on flat surfaces. Or you have a hen that doesn't sense an egg.

 

[Julieugar]

The eggs we find in the open have been intact eggs. Initially it was just our last pullet to learn how to lay--Our black copper maran. So, we saw the dark brown eggs and knew they were hers. We hear her squawking mid morning so feel like she's laying eggs, just not any place we can find them We live in the country, plenty of space, no fences between neighbors. And her dark brown eggs would be so hard to detect in all of the many places she has access to. Her first two odd ball eggs were on concrete walkways, or on our gravel driveway. The third egg was left on our back doormat, by our sliding door of our covered porch. Left almost like a car would leave a mouse for it's owner. And this we realize was very late, around dinner time.

So among the 5 chickens, she seems like the anomoly, and I was going to let it be what it was going to be. Considering I have 4 other totally reliable layers. But this last week, my silver laced wyandotte left one of her tan eggs also on our gravel driveway. and she has ALWAYS laid in a nesting box, no problem. And then---my buff orpington, an excellent layer has been following the black copper maran around all day, and now hasnt laid an egg in a week,

So, I think I'm dealing with a behavioral issue here. Our B.O. is queen bee, in charge of the group, and now she's following the BCM around! The BCM although she should be bottom of the totem pole, has a VERY strong personality, not friendly, and I have gotten the impression from the start that she wanted to be in charge. So, it's interesting that she's got the BO following her lead, it seems like a bit of a power struggle and its playing out in the egg laying in some way. All 4 girls lay in the boxes, and its as if she's saying, yeah, but that's not how I'm gonna do it. She kind of a disruptor. has anyone dealt with something similar?


Our convertible coop run is not very big at all, and this is the reason we let our girls free range. (noting that I've kept wood eggs in the nesting boxes for months while the BCM worked out her issues) I cant see myself locking them in there for a week to re-set the situation. If we transition and set up a larger space for them, will this potentially solve this problem?

Question about the " crow' or Raven" issue---if I see eggs out in the open, are they finding them and leaving them there? these eggs are not cracked, they are whole---another thing I don't seem to understand because my girls will sit on their nests for a few hours sometimes "working" on an egg. So if an hen doesn't know there's an egg to lay, wouldn't she be squatting at some point at that spot?

help again please!

 

[rosemarythyme]

If we transition and set up a larger space for them, will this potentially solve this problem?

Possibly.

my girls will sit on their nests for a few hours sometimes "working" on an egg. So if an hen doesn't know there's an egg to lay, wouldn't she be squatting at some point at that spot?

The new hen might be going to the nests correctly when it's time to lay but before she finishes and actually lays, she leaves prematurely, misreading her own body's signals, and so the egg simply falls wherever she's standing at the moment. That's not that unusual for a new layer to be confused by what they're feeling. Or if the eggs have a lot of bloom and she has a very fluffy butt, it's possible the bloom is actually sticking the egg to her butt, so when she walks off, the egg drops off elsewhere.

Or she might not be ever going to the nest boxes, unfortunately that can only be verified by your eyes or a camera.