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My chucks are not clever about using their egg boxes in which to deposit their eggs. (Well, maybe my chucks' owner isn't so clever at making egg boxes?) The eggs end up strewn all over the cage floor. One just delivered 8 eggs and I failed to find them in time to incubate them.

I have several gravid chucks right now. In an effort to prevent more loss of precious eggs, it seemed a good idea to ask if anyone knows if there's a typical time of day when chucks tend to deposit their eggs. Is this usually an early morning activity, or something that generally happens during the night, or maybe mid-morning after a good bask, or does it occur just any old random time? It would be neat if there's a standard time. I could set a clock to make sure no more eggs were left undiscovered.

Also, does anyone know if chuck moms have any control over the timing of egg delivery? Human moms have no say about when labor will start or when babies will be born. Are chucks like us, or do they decide when it's a good time to deposit their eggs?

Thanks for any insights anyone can share.

Our females usually lay their eggs at night or earlier in the morning. Often we know a female is digging when she fails to appear to bask and eat. I think that the females can hold their eggs for some time, but not entirely at will. We have never had a lot of luck with nest boxes, and some females just don't seem to be comfortable with them. Especially with wild caught females, we prefer a nest area, in the cage with a rock that the female can dig under. just something a bit more natural. We have had a lot more success with this method.
Look for pics soon.
Nick & Austin

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Yours is somewhat similar to mine.

I still have 2-4 pregnant females. Can't really tell if a couple are just fat or full of eggs. Maybe a week ago, I cut a hole in a regular paper shoebox. I put a square ceramic saucer in the far end, covered it with 6 B####y paper towels (these are very absorbent and fairly soft), and keep it damp as much as possible by spritzing water on the paper towels. The chucks are constantly in and out of this box, even sleeping in it all night. Early this morning, one of the gravid girls laid 6 eggs in the box. That's the best luck I've ever had with a nest box. There's also a box with sandy soil in the cage but she won't even go in that box, let alone stay put and dig. Go figure!

Soon as we saw the eggs early this morning, we gently nabbed them and put them in the incubator. This was enough to spook the new mama and she hasn't given us any more eggs yet today, though she is still squirming around some, as if having contractions. I'm leaving her alone as much as possible, but I do quietly check for eggs every half hour or so and offer her water out of a gravy spoon, which she greedily laps. Hope most of all she goes ahead and unloads her cargo to avoid a trip to the vet for a hysterectomy. This egg business is kinda nerve-wracking.

Congrats on the 6 eggs, Sue. Isis used to lay her eggs consistently between 2AM and 5AM. I never picked any out until she seemed done laying the whole clutch, as I didn't want to interrupt her "trance". I think they are like Sea Turtles in this respect, and need not to be interrupted. I'd cover her glass so that she doesn't see outside movement and hope she goes back in the box. Your nestbox is pretty unique! I might try that. Keep us posted! Tom Greb says that sometimes they will continue to lay even two days after, but the watching and waiting for the human gets pretty intense! Good luck to your girl!! Maureen