Egg-Laying Questions

[kschuetz21]

My hens are around 14-15 weeks old, beginning to get red in the face/waddle now. They free range when we are home, so not all day everyday, but I had a question about when they begin to lay.

Will the girls lay eggs randomly in the yard? Or will they go back into their coop to lay eggs if they are free-ranging?

Thanks for the help, I am a newbie this year

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

My hens are around 14-15 weeks old, beginning to get red in the face/waddle now. They free range when we are home, so not all day everyday, but I had a question about when they begin to lay.

Will the girls lay eggs randomly in the yard? Or will they go back into their coop to lay eggs if they are free-ranging?

Thanks for the help, I am a newbie this year

The short answer is - yes - yes they will lay randomly, yes they may return to the coop. Chickens are creatures of habit - the trick is teaching them the habits you want them to have. Something you can do to help encourage laying where you want them to lay is to consider moving range time to the evening - *most* hens will lay in the morning/early afternoon hours (that is not to say hens do not lay in the later afternoon/evening or even overnight). By keeping them penned for the prime laying hours you will be increasing the chances of them learning to lay in the coop and, thus, associate that as the place to lay. Once your girls do start to lay you will be able to get a better feel for the laying habits of your particular birds and adjust accordingly. Baiting the boxes with fake eggs, golf balls, etc will also help them to associate the intended laying boxes as a place to lay their eggs and make them a bit more attractive. Once they are firmly in the routine of laying in the nest boxes you can experiment with ranging during other times of the day and see whether they do return to the coop or not - they may go "rogue" on you and start nests elsewhere vs. making the journey back. This is another point where knowing the laying habits comes into play as you will have a rough idea of how many times per week each of your birds lays and if you start seeing a dip in your eggs you will know it's time to go nest hunting.

 

[kschuetz21]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!