Could my chickens be laying elsewhere?

[LiHo]

I'm pretty new to raising chickens. We have 5 hens that are about 4 months old. On the weekends when we're not working, we let them out in the morning, and they don't come back to their little coop until about dusk. During the week when we're working they stay in their coop, and when we get home we let them out for a few hours. Anyway, this morning we found our first eggs in the coop when we let them out. But i'm curious....since they're out so much on weekends, could they be laying elsewhere and we just not know it? In which case, do i need to be combing the yard for eggs (or the fence row....yipee..)? Or since they DO have their little comfy house (and attached fenced-in yard) are they more likely to only lay eggs there? Anyone know?

 

[devora]

Welcome to BYC!

I keep my girls in until early afternoon. I had a few rogue layers last year and want to train them to only lay inside. Even once this behaviour is established it can sometimes need reinforcement.

Could they be laying elsewhere? You betcha.

 

[LiHo]

Thanks for your reply! I was afraid of that. Lol. If any are laid in the fence row they may just have to stay there. It's too thick to go in for a person. When I first posted this morning only 2 eggs were found in the coop, but a little while later I noticed one of our chickies hanging near their little house quite a while and behaving strangely (I realize it's not strange behavior, but I mean strange in that this behavior until now was unfamiliar to me). My son went out a little while after she'd exited the coop and found a warm wet egg. #3 today. Yay! We're so excited. Hopefully they'll all do that and we won't have to hunt for them. We'll see. Thanks a bunch!