[NUMBER27]

Hi, I have 3 chickens who live in my garden. Have only had them for a couple of months so still very new to "hen keeping" One of the girls has been laying an egg daily for the last 3 weeks, but today I found 3 eggs, one in the nest box, which is where it usually is, one at the bottom of the hen house and the other one outside the hen house on the grass. Both of these eggs had been pecked at but not the one in the nest box. Could anyone tell me what is going on with my girls!! thanks.

[joyfull]

Were the eggs soft shelled? If so it is perfectly normal for them to eat the contents and the shells. Perhaps the hen in question got took by surprise especially if she is new to laying. Place a dummy egg in the nest box (pot, rubber or plastic - but if you don't have any then a golf ball would suffice) to encourage them to go into the nest box 

[helens-hens]

Hi there. Has the hen that has already been laying been doing so in the nest box? If so then it sounds like the other 2 may have just started laying and haven't yet got the idea of laying in a nest box..

Re the eggs having been picked at, I have noticed with my own hens that if good, hard shelled eggs are layed in the nest box where they should be then these are left alone.

If they are layed anywhere else or if they are soft shelled then the eggs are viewed by the hens as food and eaten. A couple of times I have been & collected an egg from the nest box and when taking it back to the house they have spotted it in my hand, jumped up and pecked it.

Keep an eye on them. Egg eating can be hard to stop if they start to do it regularly.

Hope this helps.

[kegs]

Also, make sure they have access to oyster shell which will help improve the quality of their egg shells.

[NUMBER27]

Thanks so much for advice. Shells on pecked eggs were hard, but not in nest box so maybe the hens saw them as food. Will keep an eye them for a few days and see if I can catch them when they are laying the eggs and rescue them b4 they end up as lunch!
 Have also noticed one hen pecking feathers off another one and then eating them. Any ideas on this please or have just bought totally mad chickens!!!
 Love this website.

[hillfooter]

If they are layed anywhere else or if they are soft shelled then the eggs are viewed by the hens as food and eaten. A couple of times I have been & collected an egg from the nest box and when taking it back to the house they have spotted it in my hand, jumped up and pecked it.

Not quite, it's a bit more subtle than this.  Chickens lay in communial nests which is where the young are hatched.  They can instinctively tell if the egg they are about to lay is viable (normal) or not.  If it is not viable ie won't hatch normally they by preference lay it outside the nestbox so as to not contaminate the viable eggs in the nest. 

This is why soft eggs are almost always laid outside the nestbox.  to 'clean up' none viable eggs they eat them.  Likewise hens will peck and eat if they can eggs being collected and left in a none viable place ie on the grass.  By pecking them they guarentee they won't hatch.
 
It's not that soft eggs are regarded as food more an instinctive reaction to an egg laid in a none viable place.  Eggs left unattended attract preditors and vermin and it a cleaning up instinct.  Chickens can also become egg eaters which is a bad habit where they aquire a taste for eggs and will also eat eggs which are laid in a nestbox too.

Hens will also 'guide' you to their eggs when you collect them.  Often the hen who laid the egg will jump up on the edge of the nestbox to ensure you collect it.  Maybe they 'think' you are building a clutch and will take it away and hatch it
HF