Where will my hens lay their eggs?

[kiyomi]

My chickens free roam, they stay in their coops til about noon and then they come out & run around and by 7 or 8 they go back into their coops all by themselves and we shut it. Will they lay their eggs in the yard since they free roam? We have a box that was made for them to lay their eggs in the coop I think, but I've always been worried about it. We have 10 chickens and the box is quite dark and it's kinda small but they all seem to fit in it. It's up high so there's a ladder for them to get in. It's where they sleep every night. There's only one opening in the middle and the rest is blocked off. I could send a pic of it if you want me to. They're 4 months old, and if I should make new little boxes for them to lay their eggs what should it be?

 

[duluthralphie]

Chickens lay eggs wherever they want...

BUT keeping them inside during the morning does help get most the eggs into the nest boxes.

 

[junebuggena]

Without any adult hens to show them to lay in the next boxes, they will lay wherever they feel like it.

 

[SpaghettiJo]

You might consider buying ceramic eggs to place in the nesting box. It will encourage them to lay there. AND if any of your chickens end up being egg eaters it will also discourage them from doing so. I have had mine in their nesting boxes for a while and so far I have had no egg eating incidents and only 1 egg laid outside of the nesting boxes.

You also might want to put another 3-4 nesting boxes in their coop.. 1 seems like its not enough for 10 chickens... I have 6 chickens and 4 nesting boxes. When your chickens start to lay, they won't want to all be crammed in the same box laying at the same time.. I think more boxes and ceramic eggs will definitely help your situation.

 

[misschickenlover]

you need 1 nest box for 3-4 chickens... all of my hens lay b4 noon so i just collect them all then and also they all lay in the nest boxes... (they did got through a stage at one time of laying underneath the perches, but i just borrowed rubber eggs from a friend and put them in a nest box - they soon got the idea)

 

[bockbockquack]

The nest box you have for them sounds good. In my experience they tend to like spaces that are somewhat enclosed. Since they are out during the day it is likely they will lay in other places at times. When you start coming up short on eggs take a look around for a rogue nest. I found one in my rhododendrons last week and one in the barn this week.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

My hens free range from dawn to dusk, and they've always laid in the coop.

 

[duluthralphie]

My hens free range from dawn to dusk, and they've always laid in the coop.

Consider yourself lucky...BTW it will change if they have much room to Free range....Free ranging in a 50X50 lot is different than free ranging over several acres...


Just mentioning this as there is a lot of difference between "free ranging areas".

 

[Kstring]

Mine free range and go back in the cool to lay. Did have one hen that wanted to lay under my raised dog pens but after about a week she went back to the nest box.

 

[TexasSam]

I have several boxes in my coop and I filled them with cider shavings and put a few golf balls in they laid there except for one of them found A spot under the bushes in A pile of leaves. After I cleaned up the leaves she went back to the coop