Hen laying under shed....how to make her lay in the coop???

[seaside chickens]

Hi everyone,

I've got a 10 month old Araucana who is determined to lay her eggs under our shed. Our chickens were completely free range up until yesterday so it didn't matter...we would just collect the eggs from under the shed. It took us a while to discover this secret spot so she's been laying there for quite some time. But now, we've had to fence them in and she is DETERMINED to get to that shed! We finished the fence yesterday and this morning she has been running back and forth along the fence edge non-stop....for over an hour. She escaped from the fence twice (long story about a part of the fence that we need to fix) and ran straight for the shed. Both times, I caught her and put her back into the coop hoping that she would get the hint. I don't want to close her in the coop because then the other hens won't be able to get in to lay. And I also don't want her to be wasting all of this energy trying to get out. Any suggestions on how to break this habit? I've got fake eggs in the nest boxes...plus our other 4 hens all lay in there so there are usually real eggs too.

Thanks for any advice!!

 

[Beekissed]

Pen all the birds in the coop until late evening, for about a week. She will have to lay there eventually!

Also, you can tack some chicken wire along the bottom of the shed to prevent her from going to this nesting site again.

Periodic reinforcement of appropriate nest laying is a free ranger's life, as is searching out and eliminating potential nesting sites.

 

[seaside chickens]

Thanks for the post...I'll definitely try that over the next few days. Thanks!