i have 3 isa browns about 1 year old. i have had them since 6 weeks. i get 2 eggs every day, never 3. 1 egg is about 12 midday and the other is 2-3 pm. but they will be anywhere. i have sometimes watched them lay an egg in the middle of the yard, then walk of without clucking at all. sometimes they will cluck without laying an egg. at first i wondered if its just cause they were young and needed to learn what to do, but im starting to realise they arent gunna change their habbit. how can i get them to lay regular, and in the same place each day?
If you see them sitting, gently pick them up and put them in the nesting box and keep doing this until they get the idea. You could also put a few golf balls in the nest to encourage them to lay there. CT
Using the golf balls or plastic eggs in the nesting box like @CTKen suggested might help. Some people keep the chickens in their coop longer in the morning until the laying is done. You mention sometimes they don't make much noise about their laying...I have 3 red sex links in my mixed flock and they are some of the quietest about laying. Some girls are very vocal with their egg songs but not so much the RSL's. Could be your girls are quieter about it, like mine. Also, chickens don't usually lay at the exact same time every day. It takes about 25-26 hours for an egg to complete it's cycle. So if a girl lays at 8am one morning, she probably won't lay until an hour or two later the next day.
Three of my four chickens lay in the afternoon. Do they free range? Maybe locking them in the coop for a couple days would help them relearn to use the nest box?
