problem with not laying in the nesting boxes

[juliemcummings]

I have 7 hens who free range, I never had problems with them laying in the nesting boxes until about 2 weeks ago. My boyfriend found a couple eggs in the woods and I figured that maybe they were just too far from the boxes and didn’t make it back, then I went from getting 6-7 eggs a day to a few days I only got 2 eggs. Last week I found a mound of 10 eggs (who know how old) under my back stairs. I locked them in the coop/run for a day and the next day I was back to 6 eggs now I’m noticing the number is going down again. What can I do? I really like free ranging as I don’t have a very large run and I feel like they are too crammed if they are locked up for too long.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Keep them locked up until the afternoon so that they will have to use the nest boxes. Let them out after two or three or thereabouts and they will mostly lay where they should.

Use nest eggs. Chickens can't count, but they can tell if the nest they laid in the day before is empty today. Given the opportunity they'll look for a safer place to lay.

 

[donrae]

When I free ranged I just resigned myself to going on an egg hunt. As A.T. mentioned, when I found a nest I marked an egg with a sharpie and left it there as a sacrifice egg, to keep the hen coming back. I found if I emptied the nest, she'd find somewhere else to lay. If I left a sacrifice egg, she'd come back. At least, until she found a better spot lol!

Some folks here have been successful locking the hens in the coop for 3-4 days, that resets the hens to lay in the nest boxes. I never tried that, so can't say. I do know they don't typically lay in the afternoon, some folks say if you keep them locked up until noon they'll lay in the coop and be able to range in the afternoon. It depends on your set up.