Free Roaming Hens- egg collecting

[nursemeh]

question for those that allow free roaming/ranging for their layer hens.

My 5 pullets are almost 5 months old. I am preparing their nest box area inside the coop and want the best advice to encourage them to lay there for ease in egg collection.

Questions:

1. My chickens spend almost NO time inside their coop from sunup-sundown. In fact, they rarely go inside their voluntarily during daylight hours. Is it realistic that they will go inside there to lay? Is this what other free roamers have seen?

2. Should I set up other nest boxes around our yard area? They particularly LOVE to hang out under our porch, esp during the heat of the afternoon, there is cool sand under there and I even put a fan on them when its really hot. Should I set up a nest box under there?

3. I am concerned that if I give them other places to lay- they won't be encouraged to lay inside their coop at all, but i WANT THEIR EGGS-haha!!

Any help and advice is greatly appreciated!

Mary

 

[toletiquesbysam]

I'm curious about this too, mine are only 18weeks old though but have the same schedule as yours!

 

[1lpoock]

My 12 hens and my rooster sleep overnight in their coop and free range all day from sun up to sundown. They go in the coop themself when it gets dark. Just put their water and food in the coop so they know that it is a safe place where they can sleep and eat. I never had a problem with my chickens...they all lay in the nest box. If, when they start laying, you notice they arent laying in the coop, put gold balls in the nest boxes. If that doesnt help, lock them in the coop for a day or until they lay their eggs. They will be forced to lay in there. Do that for a week, and they'll never lay anywhere else.

 

[purelypoultry]

Lock them in at night. Keep a light on. Water and feed the chickens in the coop. Nest boxes around the yard probably wouldn't be laid in. They will probaly lay under the porch. You might be able to do a nest box under the porch.

 

[gritsar]

I agree with 1lpoock. My flock free ranges all day, every day. The hens go back to the coop to lay.
Keep track of your egg count, after the girls start laying of course. If the egg count suddenly drops, time to lock them in for a few days to retrain them to their nestboxes. Don't offer nestboxes anywhere else. You want them to lay in the coop.

 

[farmerjill]

Hmm. Sounds like other folks' chickens are better behaved than mine. I have to leave mine locked up in the run until after noon because by then, most of them will have laid their eggs (and they do go in the coop to lay them). Otherwise, if I let them range all day, they all get together and find a clump of weeds in the yard or a space under a wheelbarrow or inside of an old shavings bag (!) to lay their eggs. In my little flock of nine bad hens, nobody (apparently) wants to stop having free-ranging fun and go allllll the way back to the coop.

 

[cmom]

I agree with 1lpoock and gritsar. My birds free range from dawn to dusk. They always lay their eggs in the nest boxes in their coop. I do have golf balls in the nest boxes. I don't really know it helps but when my older birds first started laying I did find some eggs on the ground. Since I put the golf balls in even my younger birds lay in their nest boxes. I did shut my older girls in their coop for a few days when they started laying but didn't have to with the younger ones.

 

[SurprisingWoman]

What a timely question!

My girls seem to be unusually smart so far (they are also better looking than most).

I am NOT prejudice!

I will get some golf balls when I make their nest boxes habitable and hope for the best.

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

My hens free range all day we have several nesting boxes by the coop which they lay in ...most of the time
but sometimes I will find an egg behind the coop, behind a bicycle and even in the compost!

 

[Uppity Peon]

My chickens spend almost all day away from the coop either around the compost, the woodpile, or in the shade by the picnic table. Their feeder is hanging under the raised coop so they do come for food refills. I have only found 3 eggs and all 3 were in the straw at the bottom of the coop. I know they were laid in mid morning.

So I think it is realistic to expect they might go back to the coop to lay eggs.