I want them to lay in the same place!

[sjrld]

I have two free range hens. One of them lays in the box I have set up for them. However, the other one continues to lay in my neighbors boat! Is there any way I can get this hen to change her ways, and begin laying in the box I have made for them?

Thanks so much for for any help.

sjrld

 

[ashyannehand]

I placed an egg in my box with an X on it and after that the hens began to mostly lay in the box. I did have one egg out of the box yesterday. Some people use plastic eggs, gold balls or wooden eggs.

Good luck!

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

Good Luck with that.
I have two free range hens that run around the barn. One of them lays in the nest box I put up in one of the horse stalls. The other insisted on climbing through the feed whole in the horse stall to get into the walk way to lay her egg on the hay bale. I tried everything. She was very persistent. I eventually blocked the wholes, then she layed on the stall floor in the corner. So I put a next box on the floor in that spot and she started laying in it. Then I raised it off the ground and now she uses the nest box on the wall. Mind you it is right underneath the other one, but she will not lay in the nest box if there are wood shavings in the nest box. It must have straw.

If I put in wood shavings, she goes back to laying on the floor.

 

[HorseFeathers]

Show her the nest box, place her in it when se looks like she's about to lay, and place a fake egg inside so she knows she should lay there. Don't use a real egg; it will rot. What is so appealing about the boat? Try to mimick that in your nest box. Good luck!

-EG11

 

[DDRanch]

Hi,
I had one of my girls laying in my shed when she first started so I cooped her up in the pen/coop for a couple of days until after she laid her egg, and then I let her out to free range. It seemed to work as they are all in the proper place now. I would like to see a pic of her sitting in a boat though.
Anne

 

[BeckyLa]

I have some freerangers that loved to lay in the woods right behind their coop. So I would leave them penned up for a week or so until they got into the habit of laying in the nest box. Now they always come back to the nest box to lay.

 

[Beekissed]

I had to do the same thing. My chickens came from my sister's place where chickens lay anywhere but in a nest! I had to keep them in the coop until late afternoon for week to get them to lay in the nest boxes. I haven't had anymore incidents of laying in my shed, on the lawnmower or in the dog houses!