Two days, no eggs. James and Melissa’s hens are good layers. They’re only a few years old and typically lay six to eight eggs a day. There are a few reasons why hens might stop laying (I’ll go into that in another blog) but there are only two common reasons why you aren’t finding eggs in the nest boxes. The first this time of year in the Midwest is a ratsnake (or sometimes referred to as a blacksnake). The second, which was the case in this situation, a broody hen. A broody hen will build up a nest in an area away from the nest boxes and away from your easy reach. Once she builds this nest, everyone has a tendency to want to use it, even if they have four perfectly good boxes to choose from.
The culprit for this egg mystery is a leghorn/Maran mix. Leghorns are typically devoid of brooding instinct having been bred for high egg production. For whatever reason, this little miss has decided she wants to set a nest. This is far from the first time we’ve battled a pop-up nest with our chickens. Our own main coop used to have a large open area below it where the chickens could go to for shade, get out of the rain or hide from a hungry hawk. After several years of crawling underneath it to get eggs from the farthest corner from reach we finally closed it off. Several years ago while putting up Christmas lights on the porch I spotted a pile of nearly two-dozen eggs hidden behind an evergreen bush. I remembered a hen getting out the summer before and had caught her near the porch several times. I had no idea she was setting a nest there. We currently have a broody Buff Orpington who's corner nest is luckily in reach through the back door of the coop. Just like all birds, chickens are more than capable of building nests and can do so just about anywhere.
If this happens to you, I suggest you remove the nest and put an object like a brick or small crate in that spot. Replace nest bedding and set a wooden egg in one of the boxes to send the message that this is once again a great place to lay an egg. If that doesn’t work (like it didn’t under our coop) block the area off or get a long grabber to collect the eggs. As for little miss, she and most of those eggs are being moved to a brooding coop. We’ll see what happens!
Audrey L Elder
Fourteen Acre Wood
Comments