Egg laying

[DuckinghamPalace]

Hi, I got my first two hens in November, today I had my first egg which I watched her lay, she was making so much noise and unsettled in and out her house. She ended up laying it on the lawn Is it ok for the hens to lay them wherever they feel happy to?
Also my hens free range the garden, they have layer pellet out all the time Amd are also feed a corn mix in the afternoon. They rarely touch the layer pellet, is that ok? I want them to be getting the best goodness which I’m assuming they are getting from the goodies round the garden ?
New to chickens so not sure what’s best

 

[Callender Girl]

Congrats on the first egg -- no matter where it ended up, it's still exciting when they start to produce.

Despite an abundance of nest boxes, my hens lay where they darned well want to lay -- although it usually involves going into someone else's coop, screaming at the resident hens and making themselves comfy. My Columbian Wyandotte has decided to skip nest boxes all together and lay her eggs in the very back corner of the coop, right underneath the poop shelf; retrieving those eggs is no picnic for me.

Maybe it's just because your girl new at laying or maybe she doesn't understand where she should lay. In the same coop as the Columbian, her Bielefelder sister nicely deposits her eggs in a provided nest box -- which I "seeded" with a fake egg to encourage the use of that area.

I like that chickens choose their own feed when free ranging, but I would also be concerned about their nutrition if that's all they're eating. Maybe skip the corn mix? I know mine would rather eat scratch grain (which I think of as candy) than almost anything else in the world, so I limit it severely. I feed an all-flock crumble during the non-laying months and switch to pellets when it's time for eggs again. Sometimes, it takes a few days for them to get use to the "summer" feed.

I am no expert on feeds. I'm just offering my opinion. Good luck with your girls, and here's to more eggs!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Not unusual for new layers to be confused by the laying process and end up laying somewhere odd. You could try restricting them to the coop and/or run until they get the hang of laying in their nest boxes, or if you really truly don't care about where the eggs end up (some people don't care) then let them lay wherever. Though if you plan on eating the eggs it's best to encourage them to use their nest boxes so eggs stay dry and clean until you're there to pick them up.

Skip the corn - if they're already free ranging, then they don't need the extra treat (corn) but should be eating their feed which has the balanced nutrition they need.