http://www.socyberty.com/Activism/A-Case-for-Free-Range-Eggs.209753 I stumbled across this interesting article, hopefully some people here will benefit from it. If you are debating whether or not you should free range your chickens, then this article is definitely for you! Not only are eggs from free range hens better tasting, but they are actually healthier for you. Plus the hens have better lives. These are several good reasons for picking free range egg. There is a lot of debate about what is "free range" and what isn't. The legalities of the definition vary depending on what country you are in. In most places it means the chickens have grass under foot. In my own world, it means they are in a chicken coop at night for their own safety, but let loose in the yard for the day.
I read in a Vanderbilt publication that eggs from free range hens are loer in cholesterol and have a higher amount of Omega 3 fatty acid than non-free range hens.
There are several good articles in Mother Earth News covering this subject as well. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2005-08-01/Free-Range-Eggs.aspx http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx
Our Chickens are out free ranging and I never can find the eggs until it is too late and she is sitting on them. Is there any way to teach them to lay in a certain area or box? I was considering locking the 2 hens in the hutch with a few nest and fake eggs for a few days to see if that would work. Will free rangers go back to a nest in a cage to lay? They refuse to go into the coop at night.
You more or less have to train them to lay in the nest in the coop, by keeping them in the coop until late afternoon for a couple of weeks. Then, it also helps if you can eliminate likely places for them to lay, which is a little harder. Some folks actually create some nice, private places outside for the hens to lay, then just make that one of the places you check. Where are your birds roosting, if not in the coop? Make it impossible for them to roost there, either by clipping a wing or blocking access. I'd say keep them inside the coop/run for a couple of weeks until they get used to using the nests and roosts, then let them out in the afternoons, then finally, full freedom. May need to retrain occasionally!
I put my chickens in the coop for 1 week when I broguth them home and now they free range all day and enter the coop along with my two turkeys to roost at night. The coop has the chicken door open to the yard (about 2 acreas and they come and go as they please. I also put wooden eggs in the nesting boxes and so far all have laid their eggs in the nesting boxes. i did have a couple of young pullets what laid their eggs on the floor of the coop but once I put the wooden eggs in there - no problems since...!
Also where I live - the price for free range eggs sell for approx 3.00 per dozen and coop eggs sell for 1.50 per dozen!