Free Range Chickens laying all over ......

[mjws82011]

OK, so the issue is not the hens stopped laying which is a good thing, however, the issue IS that they are laying all over the place. We put new nest boxes in yesterday and it appears one of them laid one egg in one but it got broken however I waited until after 12 to let them all out and they immediately went to different spots and when I checked on them they were laying eggs, one under the porch one in an abandoned dog crate with hay in it, one in a pile of leaves. So we put fake eggs in the boxes today which they already seem interested in, any other ideas on how to steer them back to laying in the coop and not all over my yard?

 

[3chickchicks]

I confined mine until late afternoon so that the only nice place to lay was the nesting box. I had a golf ball in too. They're creatures of habit so if you confine them long enough, they'll get used to using the nest box and should return to it.

 

[azelgin]

Lock 'em up! Don't give them any place to lay, except the nest boxes.

 

[mjws82011]

I am going to see how this works before I confine them, they get really upset when they are confined to the coop and chaos breaks loose in there. There are 20, 2 roos and 18 hens only 6 are laying age the rest are still too young. We have an outdoor pen available that is attached to one entrance/exit from the coop in case we need to segregate during molting or anything else I could try just letting them go out there and see how they do.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Yeah that's one of the problems with free range birds lol! I only have two or three birds that use the nest boxes, the rest of them have picked out other places, mostly in my barn, one even comes up to the house to lay her egg in a dog crate in my garage.

Pretty much the only options are to keep them cooped until most of the laying is done or to go on an egg hunt each day. Mine all tend to have a favorite spot so it's not hard to find them.

 

[azelgin]

I am going to see how this works before I confine them, they get really upset when they are confined to the coop and chaos breaks loose in there. There are 20, 2 roos and 18 hens only 6 are laying age the rest are still too young. We have an outdoor pen available that is attached to one entrance/exit from the coop in case we need to segregate during molting or anything else I could try just letting them go out there and see how they do.

Not likely they'll decide to lay out in the open. That should get them back into the to lay coop for you.

 

[Sjisty]

Remove any area where they are laying outside. The dog crate with hay is a very attractive spot - remove the hay, close the door. Rake up the pile of leaves. Eventually they will get the idea.

 

[azelgin]

Remove any area where they are laying outside. The dog crate with hay is a very attractive spot - remove the hay, close the door. Rake up the pile of leaves. Eventually they will get the idea.

Or, if you're as lazy as I am, you'll just lock them up.