Eggs Outside the Coop

[Morganharper]

My hens have been laying for about 2 months now and until this past week I've been getting 5 eggs a day (starting to worry my 6th girl will never lay). None of them are morning layers, I can wait until 1-2 in the afternoon and there may not be any eggs yet. But just recently one of them, not sure who yet, i believe is laying in the yard. The yard is about 5 acres so it's hard to narrow down where she's laying them. After discovering 4 eggs instead of 5 on Tuesday, I did not let them range Wednesday just to test my theory and sure enough there were 5 eggs again that day. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I think I can help a bit.
Hens do not lay every single day. It is very very rare to get ten eggs from ten hens on the same day.
It takes a little over 24 hours for a hen to make an egg. That means every now and then a hen must take a day off. It has to do with where the egg is in the process when night falls.

Then we can look at things that can upset that cycle. Things that can stress a hen, a new bird in the flock, a predator hanging about, storms, and about a thousand other things. Those can all result in an egg being laid before a shell is finished or retained for later.

 

[chickens really]

Lock them all in for a few days to retrain her to use the nest boxes....Best wishes...

 

[Morganharper]

I have found the missing eggs! They are in the coop behind some leftover hay that they like to sit on. The hay made a curtain so I couldn't see them until I bent down to pick something up, there were 7 eggs!

 

[aart]

Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop for 3-4 days (or longer) can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.