Free range pullets and egg laying

[MinniesMomma]

My chickens normally free range from 6:30 in the morning until sunset. I got my first egg yesterday and it was in the run, but my question is this... Will they come back to the run to lay their eggs or am I going to have to go hunt through the forest and nasty spiders to find eggs? Should I keep them locked in longer in the morning?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Once they establish where their nest is they will return to that spot to lay each time. When and where they establish that nest is the great question. There is no easy answer.

Before a pullet first starts laying she typically hunts for a safe place to lay that egg. That's why it is a good idea to have the nests open and maybe a fake egg in there to kind of guide her. It doesn't always work but it helps. But sometimes the first few eggs take them by surprise. They just drop it wherever they happen to be, from the roosts or just walking around. The egg making process is fairly complicated, the surprise may be that so many get it right to start with. She should get the kinks out of her system soon.

If the egg consistently shows up in the same spot in the run or anywhere really, she has determined that is her nest. If it is not in the same spot every time she has not figured that out yet. When they look for a safe place to lay they are trying to hide the nest. They are usually not easy to find.

Chickens can lay an egg any time of the day. For different reasons they tend to lay more in the morning but plenty of mine lay in the afternoons. If you can leave them locked in the coop or coop and run until they lay you can train them to lay there. That's a benefit in having a decent sized coop and run. While it may not be absolutely necessary to leave them locked in there until they lay, if you have the set-up for it that might be a good thing to do.

Good luck and enjoy the eggs.

 

[lcwmt]

My chickens normally free range from 6:30 in the morning until sunset. I got my first egg yesterday and it was in the run, but my question is this... Will they come back to the run to lay their eggs or am I going to have to go hunt through the forest and nasty spiders to find eggs? Should I keep them locked in longer in the morning?

Our hens are free ranging and come back to the coop to lay in the nesting boxes. However, when they first reached POL they were not free ranging dawn to dusk, they were confined most of the day. I think they established the coop as home and the nesting boxes as a good place.
They are reliable... All except one. She keeps us busy looking for her new favorite spots to hide her eggs.
It is my observation that they do not lay at the same time every day. I don't know if keeping them in until a predetermined time would be effective.

 

[MinniesMomma]

Once they establish where their nest is they will return to that spot to lay each time. When and where they establish that nest is the great question. There is no easy answer.

Before a pullet first starts laying she typically hunts for a safe place to lay that egg. That's why it is a good idea to have the nests open and maybe a fake egg in there to kind of guide her. It doesn't always work but it helps. But sometimes the first few eggs take them by surprise. They just drop it wherever they happen to be, from the roosts or just walking around. The egg making process is fairly complicated, the surprise may be that so many get it right to start with. She should get the kinks out of her system soon.

If the egg consistently shows up in the same spot in the run or anywhere really, she has determined that is her nest. If it is not in the same spot every time she has not figured that out yet. When they look for a safe place to lay they are trying to hide the nest. They are usually not easy to find.

Chickens can lay an egg any time of the day. For different reasons they tend to lay more in the morning but plenty of mine lay in the afternoons. If you can leave them locked in the coop or coop and run until they lay you can train them to lay there. That's a benefit in having a decent sized coop and run. While it may not be absolutely necessary to leave them locked in there until they lay, if you have the set-up for it that might be a good thing to do.

Good luck and enjoy the eggs.

Thank you! I have had the nesting boxes set up for quite a few weeks with fake eggs in there. The roosters have been going in the nesting boxes and doing their clucking. The girls have been checking them out, and in the last few days I have seen a few go into the boxes. The one egg I found yesterday was laid under the boxes. There is quite a bit of room in the Run and this morning I kept them in until 8:30 with some scratch to keep them busy. I guess I'll see how it goes, I just don't want to have to go through the woods on an Easter egg hunt every day. I am beyond terrified of spiders!

 

[Sacri]

I'm jumping on here because I have the same question....My girls are about to start laying (as far as I can tell, squatting and wings out when I try to pet them and combs and wattles getting redder). I have their nesting boxes open and the fake eggs in them. They have checked them out. my girls free range from 7am to 8:45pm. The coop is definitely "home" but they have made little nests in my front bushes. Is there anything else I can do to encourage laying in the coop?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hopefully those nests in the bushes are where they dust bathe or just lay out of the sun. Time will tell. I'd check them daily just to be sure.

I don't know any thing else you can do other than lock them in the coop or coop/run until they start laying. If they do look like nests it probably would not hurt to rake them and mess them up so they don't look like nests, make them think maybe they are not that safe of a hidden place. I don't know if that would help or not.

 

[Sacri]

That is a good idea! Thanks

 

[lcwmt]

Hopefully those nests in the bushes are where they dust bathe or just lay out of the sun. Time will tell. I'd check them daily just to be sure.

I don't know any thing else you can do other than lock them in the coop or coop/run until they start laying. If they do look like nests it probably would not hurt to rake them and mess them up so they don't look like nests, make them think maybe they are not that safe of a hidden place. I don't know if that would help or not.

Another way of thinking about the "nests" under the bushes: If that is where the girls start laying, you know where to look and do not have to begin a new search.
We have a little Banty who is very good at hiding her nest and then finding a better place once she's been discovered. Some of her nests over the past 2 years have been found only by watching her move around the acreage.
For a while we had her reset to lay in the coop, now she's back to the rosebushes. We leave golf balls and one real egg there... and hope she'll stick with this place. sigh.
FWIW, there are 10 layers, 5 nesting boxes 2 of which are never used. The girls are all on different timelines, some lay early in the day , others not until late afternoon/early evening... Good luck!

 

[Sacri]

Another way of thinking about the "nests" under the bushes: If that is where the girls start laying, you know where to look and do not have to begin a new search.
We have a little Banty who is very good at hiding her nest and then finding a better place once she's been discovered. Some of her nests over the past 2 years have been found only by watching her move around the acreage.
For a while we had her reset to lay in the coop, now she's back to the rosebushes. We leave golf balls and one real egg there... and hope she'll stick with this place. sigh.
FWIW, there are 10 layers, 5 nesting boxes 2 of which are never used. The girls are all on different timelines, some lay early in the day , others not until late afternoon/early evening... Good luck!

Haha well that is true. Just having to walk out my front door to get eggs certainly isn’t the worst.

 

[HilaryH-RI]

This is helpful, I had the same question about my small flock. They are 23 weeks old, not yet laying. But I allow them to free range an hour or two in am, and then again before dusk and their return to the coop. I've wondered if they have been laying for weeks...the eggs carefully hidden in brush around our property. What is the likelihood that all 4 are doing this?