Free ranging and laying

[jessied1227]

Well, my girls spent all day and night in their coop yesterday, because my boy had a heart cath, and it was supposed to storm, so they were (unhappily) confined.

Before we left for the hospital, I went and fed and watered the girls, and I gathered 4 eggs from the nest boxes. I didn't get a chance to go up to get the eggs when we got home last night, it was dark, and storms moving in. This morning I go out to the coop to find 7 eggs. 7!!!!!

They were everywhere. In the shavings, by the food dish, under the roost. There were only 3 in the boxes, and there really isn't a way the others could have gotten knocked out of the boxes, they would have had to be literally tossed out, and I would have had broken eggs.

So, how do I train the girls to lay in the nest boxes? There has to be a bunch of eggs laying out and around our woodline, because these were good sized eggs. Not the tiny little baby eggs, full-sized large eggs. I have no run for the big girls, just a smaller run, which currently has my 12 babies and 5 guineas.

Thanks-
Jess

 

[jessied1227]

Anyone??

I'm worried about leaving them in the coop for several days with this extreme heat and humidty we've been having?

Any ideas at all?
Thanks-
Jess

 

[MayberrySaint]

MIne just started laying last week. I'm worried about mine depositing eggs all over the place also. I just play "easter egg" hunt every evening. So far, it seems like they are all laying in the coop. I do keep mine inside until about 11 AM before letting them out to free-range, hoping they lay in the morning.

 

[justusnak]

I dont let my girls out untill 10 am. It is pretty warm by then, but they get the idea. MOST of them lay by then. Sometimes I get a late afternoon egg...try that, hope it works for you as well!

 

[FamilyOfChickens]

Our gold sex links free-range, and always lay in the nest box. When they first began laying, we put the eggs we found on the ground in their nesting boxes. They got the idea pretty quickly.

Now, sometimes I let them out fairly early in the morning, with only 1 or 2 eggs in the box. I get those eggs, and when I go to put them away again there's 2 more eggs in there!

 

[jessied1227]

Well, I've been leaving them in the coop until around 11 AM, and we're back down to 3 eggs.

They free range a huge area of our property every day, so unless I literally followed them around ALL day, it's near impossible to tell where or if they're laying elsewhere.

I have 12 girls right now, all about 19 weeks ( I was wrong about their age ) I would say of the 12 of them, all except the barred rocks are squatting when I walk up on them, and most have these wonderful red combs.

I guess when the heat breaks, I'll just have to keep them confined to the coop or expand the run and see what happens.

Thanks-
Jess