Eggs in one basket

[funkyyoungchick]

So most of my flock had been taken by predators and i decided to replenish the flock. Went from 2 to 17 large jump for me, initially i only had 8. ive had them for 18 weeks and some are starting to lay along side my hens. i need to know is it common for the whole flock to lay in a single spot?I ask because some of my girls like to nest where the previous hen had laid, when i first saw this i didn't think any thing of it other then this is easy to collect eggs. i have 5 nesting boxes of the floor that they dont use i put a golf ball in one of the boxes also i have 5 more out side the coop not used either although my old bird have laid in all of the spots. but the real problem is more that one has to lay at the same time and they are very loud and keeping noise down is one of my priority's. i live with my parents on a little over 1/4 acre and most of my neighbors live 500 feet from the coop. the yard it complete private, in the summer with the trees and winter all is viable. i have a coop with enclosed small run i guess you'd call it, i shut secure only the out side door in the summer. now they are starting to crow and squawk at 530 i have to get up feed them and let them out and go back to bed. Does anyone or everyone lock their coop and open it every night and morning? i didn't want to leave it open, once a coyote or fox had gone in the coop around dusk and i could find my only 2 hens at the time till the next morning and one had been bitten on her leg lots of feathers in the coop that night i thought they where eaten.
run acculy goes as far as trees to the left so about 800 to 1000 sqf behind my garden

they lay under the boxes on the far side lined with hay also

 

[TheFoxyChicken]

Good questions.
We have found that our hens all like the same nesting box. We have learned that individual nesting boxes are often not best. You may try to remove the dividers and see if they spread out. We had the same problem. Its not a big deal until you are allowing eggs to be set. Once, we decided to pick up our broody hen to learn she was setting on 22 eggs. Yikes!

1. As far as the coop being locked up, you have 3 options. Lock up the coop and open it in the morning as you are doing. Getting up early is a good thing

2. Upgrade your run wire to hardware cloth all the way around. Then use a skirt to prevent digging too. If you fortify your run, you can leave the coop door open at night. This allows the chickens to walk around and eat until you wake up and let them all out into the yard. But, make sure your run is very protected. (This is what we do)

3. Look up plans on Youtube for creating an automatic coop door and timer. There are lots of plans available to create a door that opens and closes at a certain time.

I hope this helps a bit. I am sure you will receive more answers from other good farmers soon. Enjoy your day!