Eggs everywhere

[Gary palmer]

I'm having an issue with my free range chickens laying eggs around the yard and am considering confining them to the coop and run for a bit to see if they all will lay in nesting boxes. I live on 4 1/2 acres with brush and everything so finding stray eggs is just not what I'm trying to do with my life. I have 21 birds and My coop and run are 88 square feet with seven nesting boxes that are connected to the coop but don't take away from the square footage. This leaves about 4.2 square feet per bird. Is this ok or do I need to add space before putting them on lock down?

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

More space is always better, you are at the absolute minimum now. I would lock them up and see how it goes, you need to be able to lock them down at anytime for as long as needed so this could be a good experiment to see if you have enough space. Then add more space, its really small for 21 chickens.
Gary

 

[Gary palmer]

I'll start building an add on to the run and lock it down tonight. Thanks

 

[Latestarter]

Square footage sounds fine but of course more is always better. What many do is place "fake" eggs or golf balls in the nest boxes so the birds "learn" that this is where they're supposed to lay. If you're "cheap" like me, I'd use some old eggs that you're not sure how long they've been "laying around" outside. Just be prepared for some to possibly get broken.

Not sure how old your birds are but if you confine them inside the coop coupled with the above for a few days, they should learn that the nest boxes is where you want them to lay. Keep in mind that "Once the yolk is released, it is about a 24–26 hour process to assemble the rest of the egg around it until it is ready to lay." https://www.quora.com/How-long-does-an-egg-take-to-develop-inside-of-a-chicken-before-it-is-laid

So your hens are going to lay a bit later each day until they "skip a day" and start over.

 

[Latestarter]

I had hens that KNEW the nest boxes were for eggs and STILL laid their eggs on the floor and buried them in the litter. I think THEY thought they were turtles or maybe they descended from crocodiles vice velociraptors...

 

[Latestarter]

wait... you say your coop AND run are 88 square feet? Large fowl birds really need a min of 4 square feet/bird IN the coop, and 10 square feet/bird in the run.

 

[Gary palmer]

Sounds like I'll have to make it bigger.

 

[Gary palmer]

So you're saying I have to build a run that's 220 square feet?

 

[lissalischicks]

Just a suggestion or thought.... what about the nesting boxes? Do most of them lay in them? Could it be a nesting box issue? Just throwing my hat out there...

 

[Dawnclucks22]

The struggle is real.