Eggs at my door?

[DeniseMace]

Don't get me wrong, back door egg service is lovely, but lately my girls aren't laying their rare winter eggs in the coop, they're laying them at my back door. I don't heat or light my coop in the winter because we use DLM for warmth and I wrap the north west sides in reflective wrap to help hold in the heat. My girls are cold weather hearty, and have never had issues with combs or feet in the winter months. But for the last few days, they're leaving their eggs at my door.

We did get a new bucket heater for the water pail, and it's on the back porch for fire safety reasons (ands also so I don't have to visit the coop morning noon and night just to know it's working, I don't trust electronics outside with my girls.) And I'm thinking they laying near the door when they come out in the morning for water. Their feed is in their run next to the coop, but I do give treats from the back door (kitchen scraps, warm oatmeal when the weather is really cold,etc.)

Is this a temporary thank you gesture from my fat ladies, or should I put a nesting box near the house for their comfort/to keep from stepping on eggs in the morning?

 

[sourland]

They probably don't want to run back through the snow to get to the coop.

 

[DeniseMace]

If we had snow I'd get that, but we've had one dusting so far this winter, and that's it. Now, last winter their coop was close to the house because I wasn't sure how they'd do with the cold, and I wanted them close, but now their coop is permanently in the back of the yard, and maybe it's just memory from last winter?

 

[Mrs. K]

They get weird notions about where to lay. You can either lock them in the coop for a day or two, or put a nest by the back door.

Mrs K