Cinnamon and Dandelion are the only two girls in the flock that don’t seem to have got the hang of laying their eggs in the right place. They are also the only two of the seramas that never go broody so I wonder if there is a connection. Maybe not laying an egg in a suitable place isn’t conducive with trying to hatch an egg. If that is the case I am happy to have their foibles.
With Dandelion it seems to be a case of her not knowing when her egg is coming. She will lay an egg in the run and then go and sit in a nest box or she will go and sit in a nest and then lay an egg in the run. Sometimes she does manage to get an egg in a nest box and occasionally she lays in the chicken shed. I don’t really mind as no harm comes to her eggs.
With Cinnamon it is a different matter altogether. Right from when she started laying I could see that she wanted to lay from a spot that was high up. She would look quite manic and would go to the top of the shelter and then would go to the highest perch in the chicken shed. She was always looking up as if she wanted to find the highest spot possible.
I felt that if I could rig up a nest box in a high spot she would be happy to lay her egg there but what I really wanted was for her to learn to lay in the nest box like all the rest have done quite happily in the past. I don’t want the added complication of trying to put in a high nest box. It’s not really feasible with our set up.
To start with I resorted to shutting her in a nest box. I don’t really like doing this but when I was on stand by to keep an eye on her I put her in a nest box and closed it, returning frequently to see how she was doing. Once shut in she soon settled and got her egg laid quite quickly. I hoped this would train her to go to the nest box and she did so for a few times.
As soon as she missed laying for a few days she seemed to forget about the nest box again and started with the same process all over again. When I found her on the high back perch of the chicken shed once more I decided to leave her to work it outside herself. After all if I am out during the day when she wants to lay she is going to have work it out herself.
When I returned to check there was an egg under the high perch in the spot where she had been. This happened several times and as her eggs have good shells they have never broken. I now keep the pine shavings heaped up in the spot she likes and leave her to it. I have never come across this behaviour before. I swear that I have the craziest of girls in my flock at the moment.
Here is Cinnamon when she wants to lay her egg
She seems to think this a suitable spot to lay an egg
Her egg in the shavings below the perch
I have tried lifting her down and putting her in the nest box but she immediately leaves and returns to this spot. I don’t want to shut her in any more. I have done this about four times and have now decided to leave her to it. I now just keep the pine shavings deep and accept this. There are worse things to worry about.
I wonder if anyone else has come across this sort of behaviour. Cinnamon is one quirky girl but you have to love her!
Click here to see the history of my flock.
I’ve had them lay all overt the place, but never from a high perch. She’s a really quirky little character!
I think she is a special little quirky character.
Do you remember that I kept two of my seramas inside for the winter because they were poorly before the weather worsened and I was too worried about putting them outside again until the weather warmed up? Well, they lived in an indoor rabbit cage (in my spare bedroom) from October until late February time so of course they laid their first eggs in the rabbit cage and now they always lay in the run and they have NEVER gone broody. Also I still have to put the girls to bed, I think you don’t have that problem because you already had chickens who showed them the ropes.
Cinnamon is a character! 🙂 xx
I think there is definitely a pattern to them laying in odd places and not going broody.
I am amazed that you still have to put them bed though. Perhaps you are right and mine followed the girls that knew what to do. I am still amazed that they go to their own spots like clockwork.
I think Cinnamon is a tiny girl with loads of character. I just love her. xx
I have all this yet to come. Still no eggs from Snowy the Silkie (new addition at 10months old) and the other three aren’t showing signs yet. I’m praying they take to the nest boxes I’ve made!
Looking at the combs on the three big girls they look like it won’t be long now. I have found that the smaller girls tend to be later starting and some of mine started at about ten months so Snowy will probably start soon. Up until I got seramas my girls always laid in the nest box apart from an occasional egg in the run which seemed to catch them by surprise. Seramas are different though, their little brains seem to work in a different way, bless them.
Snowy has already been laying when at the breeders, just not since she came to her new home at our place! I guess she’s having a pretty stressful time at the moment though so it’s understandable.
We check every day in the nesting area of her Eglu Go coop and around the run, but, nothing!
They’re very interesting creatures aren’t they!
It doesn’t take much to stop them laying so a change of home has probably stopped her laying. You will know she is happily settled when she starts laying again.
They are very interesting creatures.
What a funny little girl.
She is, she is totally a law unto herself. She sleeps on that same back perch with the big girls while the other two pairs of little girls stick to their own perches.