Hen started laying in random places...?

[ALong12]

My welsummer hen stopped laying the egg nest about a month ago & now laying in random places so it’s like a egg hunt for me - I loose most the time
Not good since I incubate, raise & sell...

Suggestions to get her back to laying in her egg box...

 

[DobieLover]

My welsummer hen stopped laying the egg nest about a month ago & now laying in random places so it’s like a egg hunt for me - I loose most the time
Not good since I incubate, raise & sell...

Suggestions to get her back to laying in her egg box...

Can you post some pictures of your nest boxes?

 

[SueT]

How many other hens are there, how many nest boxes? Is this hen the lowest in the pecking order?

 

[Evelyn Walker]

I suggest placing golf balls/wooden/ceramic eggs in the nesting boxes to encourage laying there. How many nest boxes do you have? This is unlikely, but perhaps she's being kept from laying in the nest because of a dominant hen?

 

[aart]

My welsummer hen stopped laying the egg nest about a month ago & now laying in random places so it’s like a egg hunt for me - I loose most the time
Not good since I incubate, raise & sell...

Suggestions to get her back to laying in her egg box...

Confine her.
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop for a week or so can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop and maybe run 24/7 for a few days to a week, provided you have adequate space and ventilation, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.