Hen not laying in the nest box

[WildHorseRanch]

One of our RIR hens had stopped laying, or so we thought. Today we found that she has been laying just not in her nest box. Found her hiding spot with about 1 1/2 dozen eggs in a piece of old farm equipment. Is there any way to get her to go back to laying in the nest box or should we just let her continue to lay in her new favorite spot and collect the eggs there?

 

[foreverlearning]

You could try to put a fake egg in the nest box and lock her in the coop for a few days to "retrain" her. I have found with my free range girls that if I remove all the eggs from a spot they go find another one. I like knowing where to find the eggs before I smell them (insanely hot summer here) so I just leave a fake egg where they like to lay outside and collect daily. 1/3 of my flock lays in nest boxes provided, 1/3 lays in the storage under the grill, and 1/3 lays under a bush between the house and a outside feed bin. I have tried retraining before but one would always find a spot to hide them so I gave in and allow them their spots. Since then they stick to them and haven't been hiding any more eggs from me and it's not a hunt for them anymore.

 

[chickencoop789]

Lock her in the coop for a while. She will have no choice but to lay where she is supposed to.