Free range flock egg laying question?

[CountryCentinel]

Our girls are 5 months old now, free ranging around our property and are doing great. But we have a quick question, as far as egg laying goes is it typical that the girls will return to the coop and their nest box to lay or will we have eggs all over the property?

 

[Clay Mudd]

Mine always head back to the coop to lay.

 

[CarolJ]

If they are in the habit of laying in the coop, they will likely continue to. If they don't, you can always shut them in the coop for a few days so that they have no choice about where to lay. After a week or so in the coop, they will usually return there to lay their eggs. Make sure you have fake eggs in the nesting boxes.

 

[bagawk]

Mine picked a spot next to my barn door in the grooming area that I brush my horses in. They picked the top of a barrel. So I put a nesting box up there and that's the spot they lay them. I dont' have to trudge through rain, dirt or mud to find eggs. They are conveniently deposited outside the feed room.

 

[Mrs. K]

They can be notional, mine will upon occasion, start laying somewhere else. Mine generally lay in the house in their boxes, but sometimes will create a nest somewhere else.

If all of a sudden, you have no eggs, that is a sign that they have a new nest. Go down with your coffee, and you usually can find it, when they start the egg song. But if so, just lock them up for a few days, and they will go back to the boxes that you want them to lay in.

MrsK

 

[donrae]

We had to go on egg hunts all the time. There were "usual" spots to lay, then we'd find nest with a dozen or two eggs in it.

 

[RBOutdoors]

3 out of the 5 lay in the coop all the time. The other 2 are hit or miss. my problem is I have roll away boxes which contribute to them laying outside the coop. I am in the process of rebuilding my coop to include traditional nest boxes.