Sandra was dead beside herself . Her favorite Rhode Island Red , Mary Jane , lays a turgid bollock on an almost daily basis . The frequency of her egg output is without reproach . Her alternative of laying location , however , is problematic .
Mary Jane drops her eggs , literally … from her rod .
“ Unless I ’m there to catch the eggs , they crack up , ” Sandra observe . “ I ca n’t figure it out . What else can I do ? ”
Sandra ’s foiling is understandable . humbled eggs mean continual clean - up , likely egg eaters and a personnel casualty of taxation . Fortunately , pinpointing why Mary Jane lays her eggs while perch ( and correcting this behavior ) may not be as hard as it seems .
If your biddy lays her egg while roosting , try one of these four approach to resolve this sticky position .
1. Nest Box Issues
Your hen may find that , when it ’s sentence to lay , the “ no vacancy ” mansion is up . All of the coop ’s nest box may be occupied by fellow flock member preparing to lay .
While it ’s not uncommon for two or three hens to cram into a favorite nest box together , girls tend to prefer to do their business privately . If no nest box is available , your biddy will scramble to find a stead — any place — to lay her testicle .
This could be a cumulus of easy dirt or a heap of dry out pasturage . Basically , she ’ll lay anywhere she views as dependable and easy . A hen see her rod as safe and comfortable . Ergo , your hen lays while roost .
Avoid this billet by outfit your coop withone 10 - inch by 10 - column inch nest box for every four hens . Do n’t have enough nest boxes ? Consider adding a roofed , stand - alone nest box to your run .
Fill the new loge with sporting , lenient bedding and place a ceramic or wooden ball within as a training instrument . You may need to localise your hen within the new nest box several times until she catches on that she has a new , safe blot for egg put down .
Here are some ways you may get fresh egg clean before gain a meal of them .
2. Pecking Order Problem
It may be that occupied nest box are not the problem for your perch - set hen . alternatively , the issue may be the queen of the coop .
Every bird in your flock has a plaza in the pecking order and , if your biddy is new , new or plainly dislike by the alpha biddy , she may give away her admittance to a nest box stop by the highest - outrank girl and her cohorts .
If these biddies bully your girl enough times , the poor biddy will discover to debar the nest boxes completely to get out the abuse dished out by these flockmates .
Options in this case let in splitting the quite a little into two , each with their own chicken coop and run ; isolate the alpha biddy for several days to shake up the pecking edict ; or sell off the bullying hen … or the victimized one .
3. A Matter of Biology
Should your biddy persist in laying her eggs while roost , the trouble may not be a flock or coop government issue but a biological one . Your bird’scircadian clock — the natural rhythm that tell her when to sleep , eat and lay — may have been altered .
Circadian rhythms are very much work by external factors such as light and solid food . bird exposed to continuous illumination can pose at any meter of day , since there is no dark to stimulate thesurge of luteinizing endocrine necessary for ovulation .
Without dark to help touch off ovulation , a hen ’s reproductive system control on whatever schedule it wishes . This final result in egg repose at any time and any place .
If your chicken coop uses contrived lighting , disable it once innate lighting hold out 14 hours to allow your biddy to adjust to a natural cycle . let go of your birds shortly after dawn so that your hen is out and about in the morning sunlight alternatively of enclosed and awaiting release on her perch .
A shade or blind on your coop ’s windows can also feign darkness .
Another pick involves your flock ’s feed agenda . Luteinizing hormone has been discover tosurge when feeding activity decreases . To help oneself your hen influence her ovulatory bicycle , remove your chicken coop ’s tributary in the late afternoon .
It takes approximately25 hours from ovulationfor an orchis to be laid . If your hen ’s feeding activity is curtail in the early evening , she is more likely to rest her egg in the afternoon , when she has no sake in perch .
What should you do when a hen start damp egg ? dawn here to find out .
4. A Disabling Difficulty
When all else fails , the ultimate solution when a hen put while roosting is to turn off the equipment straight off involve in bollock dropping . Remove the perch from the coop every morning after releasing the birds , then place it back just prior to sunset .
Without a pole to lie while roosting upon , your biddy will be storm to ascertain an alternate place to nest . If your coop has enough nest box — and if these are clean and inviting — your hen should eventually habituate herself to using a cozy boxful where she can settle herself down as her newfangled laying spot .
Sandra will be trying several of the options I suggest to see if she can get Mary Jane ’s soundbox back on a natural circadian rhythm . Hopefully , one will work and put an final stage to Sandra finding her eggs pre - scramble in the coop .
