First question: should I let my hens free range everyday?
Second question: now that it's getting darker earlier and I don't have a light in the coop how many eggs a day should I aspect?
More details: Really my questions in my mind go hand and hand but this is my first coop(...first winter with them) I started the coop for my personal eggs since I tend to eat a lot of eggs (like a dozen or two a week) and so far my girls are not keeping up with my wants.... Since daylight time change I have let my girls free range during the day and most days I come home to one or two eggs (some days none but never more then that) but after reading that I should be getting 3 eggs a day on average I don't know if my hens are holding out/just not happy or laying somewhere I'm not seeing.
My yard is pretty wooded so it is hard to search everywhere when I get home from work but never have I found an egg outside of the coop so I feel fairly certain that they are just not producing up to speed....
I'm planning on keeping them cooped up for a couple days to see how many eggs they produce as a test but that has me wondering if they are use to getting outt during the day if that stresses them out or am I just thinking way too much about this and making more complicated then what it is???
(Ps I posted a question when I first let them free range asking if they return to coop to lay and really only got one answer of No they don't but like I said I still find the one or two eggs a day in the normal spot and have yet to find one outside of coop)
Second question: now that it's getting darker earlier and I don't have a light in the coop how many eggs a day should I aspect?
More details: Really my questions in my mind go hand and hand but this is my first coop(...first winter with them) I started the coop for my personal eggs since I tend to eat a lot of eggs (like a dozen or two a week) and so far my girls are not keeping up with my wants.... Since daylight time change I have let my girls free range during the day and most days I come home to one or two eggs (some days none but never more then that) but after reading that I should be getting 3 eggs a day on average I don't know if my hens are holding out/just not happy or laying somewhere I'm not seeing.
My yard is pretty wooded so it is hard to search everywhere when I get home from work but never have I found an egg outside of the coop so I feel fairly certain that they are just not producing up to speed....
I'm planning on keeping them cooped up for a couple days to see how many eggs they produce as a test but that has me wondering if they are use to getting outt during the day if that stresses them out or am I just thinking way too much about this and making more complicated then what it is???
(Ps I posted a question when I first let them free range asking if they return to coop to lay and really only got one answer of No they don't but like I said I still find the one or two eggs a day in the normal spot and have yet to find one outside of coop)