Chooks laying on the ground (and really tiny eggs)

[jodiemiller]

We've had our girls for a few weeks now and bought them POL. Haven't had more than the old egg here and there since they arrived but I've been starting to find eggs on the ground. Really small ones.

Now I know the waterfowl like to come into the coop and raid the grain, and I'm OK with that. At first I thought I must be collecting waterfowl eggs, they were so small. Used them to make the kids piklets anyhow. :blush Couldn't tell any difference from a chooks egg, just had to use two of them instead of one.

But yesterday I found three eggs, and today I found two. All on the ground and all small. Couldn't be waterfowl as I kept the chooks shut in today.

Why would their eggs be so small? They are Australorp X Isa Brown, so I would have thought they'd lay regular sized eggs. Also, some eggs are brown and some are whiter/lighter. Why would there be variation in egg colour?

They're still fresh yummy eggs in every other respect.

[spiralgirl]

i think the first eggs they lay are always very small - my hens just had the first lay a few weeks ago and the eggs are only just starting to get bigger

[jodiemiller]

Aha, so this is normal. Good.

The girls aren't roosting on the perch at night, so I figure maybe they just haven't seen the decoy egg in the nestbox. I dunno. I hate having to scratch in the guff on the floor for eggs.

[Rinelle]

Yep, normal. They'll get bigger.

Our chooks don't roost either. Apparently if they don't learn to do it as little ones, they won't do it later. I have heard that you can go out at night, once they're 'asleep', and put them on their perches, and after a couple of days they will perch there by themselves, but I've never been inspired to do so. :) Perhaps though, you could try something similar for laying? If you catch them laying on the floor, move them to a nest? Or else try putting some sort of 'nest' on the floor in the places they usually lay?

[spiralgirl]

do you know the kind of environment they were in before you got them? if they were in confined spaces, they may not have had an opportunity to roost? ( like a barn scenario) and laying eggs on the ground may also have been the only option ( lots of breeders have a barn situation for young hens and they are pretty tightly packed)

one of my hens laid her first egg out in the dirt on the ground, but after being mixed in with some older , more experienced women, she soon learnt the conventional way and all eggs are now in the nest :)

[Beckstar]

YEp, all good tips :) Also the different colours are normal too. One one my hens lays white eggs and the other brown...they are the same type of chook. Mine lay in the nesting box, but ony after first getting rid of all the straw I put in there! I keep replacing it and they keep chucking it out, so sometimes the eggs are cracked from landing on the hard surface. Silly chooks :)

[jodiemiller]

I wondered if it was because of the dominating presence of Coconut, who is now a fully mature rooster.

Suspect the breeding in confines space theory might be at the root of it. Might just live with the way things are for now and ensure we keep fresh straw on the floor.

[Bron]

our girls (isas) don't lay very big eggs. bigger than the bantams, but not huge.

that was interesting - we just weighed various eggs. one of our girls does lay a big egg (71g) regularly, the other 3 or 4 lay the smaller eggs (61g) and the bantams lay around 42g eggs. our silky/frizzle x lays 35g eggs :D

the colour variation is normal. all our eggs are different colours, even between the isas. we can tell the bantams' eggs and silky/frizzle's easily.

you may also find extra deposits of calcium, wrinkles, flat sides (I'm sure she was trying to hold a fart in :rofl) and pointy ends. so many funny variations.

[spiralgirl]

tee hee- holding a fart lol