laying her egg outside the house on the grass?

[WishIWasAWalton]

We have 4 hens that we got 3 weeks ago. 2 marans only 15 wks (Ike and Tina) , the other two 23 wks.

One (BopBop) has been laying since we got her and always inside the door of the hen house, because the nest boxes were only added to the side of the hen house last week. But since they have been added she has laid in the nest box!! All happy.

The other (Henny Penny) 23wker we've been anxiously waiting for her first egg.

Today DH found an egg on the grass outside the house, thought it was a bit odd.

Then this evening as i put them to bed i found BopBop lay two eggs today? She does skip days and then lay double yolkers, but i understand this is because she's quite new to the whole thing. Or is Henny Penny also starting to deliver?

Sorry i should have previewed. This evening i found another egg in almost the same spot. Could Bop Bop lay at lunchtime and again tonight...

bump

AFAIK it takes about 20 hours for the egg to be made and laid, so no

I am sure someone will be able to tell you exact timings but I think that it is more likely that HP has laid one too - lucky you

I suspect HP has started laying as well. Sometimes a very first egg is much smaller or perhaps has no yolk. It takes them a little while to get into the way of it all.
Is HP cackling and making a big fuss in the morning ?

With regard to the cackling, mine don't seem to make a fuss, maybe they are as weird as their owner but I cannot tell if they have laid or not

I'd say HP has started laying too but as a novice she may well be caught 'unawares' and lays the egg wherever she happens to be. Hopefully she'll soon catch on, particularly if she notices BB using the nestbox or sees an egg already in the nextbox.

I'm sure it'll all be fine in a week or so. Double yolkers in new layers are very common, as are the rather 'urgh' thin-shelled floppy eggs - even amongst hens that have constant access to oyster shell.

Thanks all for your answers.

Hp has gotten extremely vocal in the last week or so, but i thought that was because we have discovered her keeness on porridge and sweetcorn.

Which leads me to another question, my dd (and me) has porridge every morning, always with a banana and sometimes honey too (if i'm feeling generous.

Are the hens okay with a touch of leftover banana and honey?

Banana and honey? I've no idea! But if the hens eat it and it isn't too much then I would imagine it's fine.

Ours have pretty much everything bar veg peelings and they are v healthy and laying almost as well as they did when they started 3 years ago!

I would try leaving an egg or two in the nesting box to show her where it needs to go.

One of ours occasionally lays outside the house too - it seems to get stuck on her feathers from time to time and then falls off somewhere!