Free range chickens

[LyndsayJade]

I have free range chickens and my only hen that is currently laying won't use the nesting boxes. She is laying eggs in a nest she made under a big tree. I havr tried shutting her in the coop for a week thinking she would start laying in the nesting boxes, but she still lays under the tree. Today I moved her eggs (4) in one of the nesting boxes. Do you think that will encourage her to lay there?

 

[sourland]

It was worth a try.

 

[FrizzledWyandotte7]

Try destroying the nest or adding something to make it uncomfortable.

 

[steve232]

Honestly if it were me and her homemade nest isn't all that hard to get to I think I would just let her use her made nest. Just be sure late in the afternoon to be sure she goes to roost inside for sake of safety. If you just really want her to use your nesting boxes you might get some wooden eggs and place one in each box. She might see those and think that's a good idea.

 

[LyndsayJade]

I have fake eggs in the boxes already, but if she still wants to use her nest, I'll just have to make sure i get the eggs daily. I had another hen who did this and then she went broody. I lost her and all her eggs . I thought she was hidden enough from predators. I was so wrong.

Honestly if it were me and her homemade nest isn't all that hard to get to I think I would just let her use her made nest. Just be sure late in the afternoon to be sure she goes to roost inside for sake of safety. If you just really want her to use your nesting boxes you might get some wooden eggs and place one in each box. She might see those and think that's a good idea.

 

[Fluffy_Butt_Hutt]

I have fake eggs in the boxes already, but if she still wants to use her nest, I'll just have to make sure i get the eggs daily. I had another hen who did this and then she went broody. I lost her and all her eggs . I thought she was hidden enough from predators. I was so wrong.

Might be a good idea to dig up her nest and place it in a box! If you can somehow encourage her to lay inside your house, that might be a safer option as well if you can't get her to like the boxes in your coop. Chickens have a natural instinct to nest away from everyone else. If she spends most of her time inside the coop, she's most likely to be against laying in there.

 

[LyndsayJade]

Might be a good idea to dig up her nest and place it in a box! If you can somehow encourage her to lay inside your house, that might be a safer option as well if you can't get her to like the boxes in your coop. Chickens have a natural instinct to nest away from everyone else. If she spends most of her time inside the coop, she's most likely to be against laying in there.

With that being said my chickens like to hang out in the coop especially when it gets hot during the day or if predators are near. Should I not let them go in the coop during the day?

 

[Fluffy_Butt_Hutt]

With that being said my chickens like to hang out in the coop especially when it gets hot during the day or if predators are near. Should I not let them go in the coop during the day?

I think it would harm the chickens to close off their safe spot. Especially if it is their safety from heat and predators. There's not much you can do if she's engrained at this point to not lay in the coop. You've done what could have been done to get her to lay in there. Last effort would be moving the materials she used for her nest into a nesting box that isn't in direct light. The less the hen can see when laying, the more safe that hen feels.

 

[SamLockwood]

Some of them will get crazy ideas on where to lay their eggs. This year I had a young pullet that repeatedly tried to make nests in the eaves of the roof of the chicken coop (which she barely fit under). A couple years ago I thought I'd lost a hen and she'd made a nest deep under the front deck, had several other hens laying eggs in this secret stash with her, and she'd gotten broody and was trying to hatch them. I'd given her up for dead until three days later she appeared to raid the feeder. I got yelled at by three very angry hens as I cleared the nest out and added hardware cloth to keep them from getting back under there.

Destroy the illicit nest, try to restrict access to that spot with some sort of obstacle, and be ready to rinse and repeat several times. Chickens are extremely stubborn animals, especially when it comes to nests.