I found 24 eggs under our boat

[photo chick]

We always wondered why they ran out of the coop so quickly in the morning when we opened the door! Today we found their stash - 24 huge eggs. We thought they had stopped laying for the season but I guess not. Why would my chickens not lay in the coop? I can see why they lay where they do...it's dark, cozy and has soft mulch under the boats which are also under a tarp. But I have a nice big shelf for them in the coop with a ramp to get up there. It's also soft with bedding. The only thing I can think of is that it's just a shelf and not covered. Do chickens care that much? What can I do to encourage them to lay in the coop?

 

[DIMBY]

Move some of those eggs (they might be bad anyway) into your nesting box. Sounds like some of them want to go a bit broody. I had a hen who did that, so I put a large board over the place she was hiding her eggs. Within a day, she was laying where I wanted her to lay. Have had no problems since.

 

[DIMBY]

Oops, hit post reply a bit too soon. I have read that nesting boxes should have a low cover, the idea is that hens want the semblance of privacy and protection for their eggs, plus you want it to be comfortable but not so comfortable that they want to hang out for long periods of time in there, to discourage monopolizing it, pooping and other not-so-good behavior.