What does it mean when hen lays egg in run?

[FC16]

I have 6 hens (5 are laying) and I get 4 eggs a day at the moment for the last couple months.
They all have always laid in the nest boxes and there is plenty boxes.
Today somebody else collected the eggs and they told me there was 4 but 1 looked deformed and was cracked. Just now I have found this weird discoloured egg in the corner of the run

What does it mean when a hen lays an egg in the run?
Also, could the deformed egg have been my young Silkie who isn’t laying yet (she’s 25 weeks old)?

 

[3KillerBs]

Sometimes a run egg just happens.

All the boxes might be occupied or the hen might just not have made it to the box.

Likewise the occasional oddball egg. It's only a problem if it becomes a pattern.

 

[TooCheep]

First eggs are frequently not done in the nest as the bird doesn't understand what "that feeling" is. By the second/third time, they are almost always in the nest. They generally happen very rarely after that. I've also rarely seen "roost eggs" where the chicken lays an egg overnight or very early in the morning while on the roost.

Any single weird egg isn't cause for concern, but if you see a pattern, then it is time to check on possible solutions.

 

[FC16]

First eggs are frequently not done in the nest as the bird doesn't understand what "that feeling" is. By the second/third time, they are almost always in the nest. They generally happen very rarely after that. I've also rarely seen "roost eggs" where the chicken lays an egg overnight or very early in the morning while on the roost.

Any single weird egg isn't cause for concern, but if you see a pattern, then it is time to check on possible solutions.

Glad there’s nothing to worry about, do you think the Silkie could’ve started laying? It’s just I’ve always had 4 a day at the moment so to have 5 was strange, but the one in the run looked far to big to come from her

 

[TooCheep]

My general rule is chickens can't lay more than one egg/day. However, the run egg may have been sitting there since the day before, so I can't say.

 

[FC16]

Definitely wasn’t the Silkie as today she layed her first egg!

 

[Chickwonderer]

First eggs are frequently not done in the nest as the bird doesn't understand what "that feeling" is. By the second/third time, they are almost always in the nest. They generally happen very rarely after that. I've also rarely seen "roost eggs" where the chicken lays an egg overnight or very early in the morning while on the roost.

Any single weird egg isn't cause for concern, but if you see a pattern, then it is time to check on possible solutions.

I have a Buff Orpington that has been laying about a month now. One day the egg will be small and the next may be a double yolk. My chicks are still on Nutrina start and grow , she is my first hen so older a month or so older than the other 9 pullets. I give them vegetable scraps from the kitchen, some water melon. Not free range but a large run. To keep them safe I live near a swamp.
Do I need something else ? Or is this egg laying normal for the first few times ? Help I love my babies, I have Buff orpington and Barred rock.

 

[mtnlady621]

I have chickens that either lay in the dusting tire or the ground next to it,or in the pellet feed dish. Why? I have no idea. All are healthy. I will say that they were hen raised and do not like people. I also have 3 new hen raised pullets that roost on the inside structure of the nesting boxes. I chalk it all up to some chickens are just odd.

 

[3KillerBs]

One day the egg will be small and the next may be a double yolk. My chicks are still on Nutrina start and grow ,

Size variations are perfectly normal for new layers who are still working the kinks out of their egg-laying systems.

The only thing you need to do feedwise is to offer oystershell on the side for her calcium needs. Instinct will tell her to eat it.

 

[Chickwonderer]

Thank you soooo much !