It's intro time... my name is Lu. I'm 30 years old, I'm a wife, and a mother of two awesome little boys of 4 & 5yrs. We're from the very hot Southern California area. And we've decided to start a flock! So far we've got 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Barred Rock, 2 Buff Orphington, a Silkie hen and rooster pair, and 3 Light Brahmas. Our Silkie just had her first set of chicks. She laid 17, and yes, I let her keep them. Wanted to see how it went. Ten hatched, 5 are still here a week and a half later.
But we've got quite a few eggs coming in every morning, considering that the flock is free ranged all day. They're out in the desert even before we're out the doors in the morning and that's at 6:15!! Recently I found a cubby hole just full of eggs. I pulled 18 out from here and there on the property, so my husband and I have started constructing an enclosure. I'll probably still let them out, but at a more controlled rate. And they'll still have a very large runner to play in. Anyhow, I love this site, I love the forum and the people therein, and I hope to learn much much more. Intro, done.
and Welcome To BYC! Sounds like you have a nice flock, and your sillkie is sure a broody, congrats on the new chicks and sorry about the ones you lost. One thing you can do with free range birds that are determined to hide nests is put "hidden" nests out for them in spots they like to use and just collect eggs from them like you do the coop. You can use things like old dog houses, buckets, barrels etc, anything that makes a good hiding spot to fool the girls. 
