Hens

[manonthemoon2]

Please can I ask chicken experts if it's normal for a hen to have an egg protruding, but then not lay the egg?

We've had 4 hens for a week, not too worried that egg laying is slow, ie only 1 a day. But this incident was weird.

So far we've just kept them in an enclosure with a coup they can go into if they want, but the eggs that we have had have just been on the ground.

The hope is that we can let them go free range around the garden, but don't really want to go egg hunting if they're not laying in the nesting box yet.

I do know that hens have a quiet spell when they don't lay, not sure if this is the reason or because they're new to us after being kept in a barn.

[exile]

I am not a hen keeper but from what I have read, you need a coop that you can shut them up in at night.

1. It will encourage egg laying in a fixed place
2. It will discourage foxes from enjoying a chicken dinner - other vermin are unfortunately available.

[MAD87]

I kept hens for several years (2 houses ago), mostly brown Rhode Island Reds, but also one contrary white hen and cockerel (given to me by a neighbour). The white bimbo used to lay her small white eggs as far back on the first floor of our barn (despite being locked in the hen house each night)p. On the nights I couldn't catch bimbo and husband, they slept in the plum tree. Eventually the inevitable happened and I found a pile of white feathers on the grass and the smallest of our dogs licking his lips.
Hens definitely need locking up at night...and routine. Mine were free-range during the day and rewarded is with big, orange, double-yolked eggs. I wish I still had hens. They're not terribly economical but they're affectionate and serve several purposes.

[Hotrodder]

+1
Its nice to take ex battery hens and give them a better life but it takes time to let them adjust to a more natural environment.

[manonthemoon2]

We do have a lockable hen house, inside the wired area, they put themselves to bed when it's dark, then we close the doors.

We've only had them a week, so I guess it's early days

[Hotrodder]

They should eventually settle in OK and learn the routine. They will be worth the effort.
We have only recently stopped keeping them. Got sick of mr.Fox or stray dogs picking them off during the day when I turned my back.

[Polarengineer]

you seem to be doing things right, for one, you are using the best feeder, as this type stops them scattering grain all over the floor. Don’t forget to mix some crushed oyster shells in with their feed to make up the calcium for their eggshells. You can buy crushed oyster shells at your local feed store or Gamme vert. Beware of free range, once outside they become prey to buzzards. Let them rummage in a bramble patch, it’s safer.