Laying eggs anywhere

[CardusChicks]

I have five chickens that have just recently started laying eggs. I have gotten five eggs so far over about I month so far. So far they have laid the eggs in the chicken house a couple times and then a few times in the pen in the ground. My daughter haut found about ten to twelve eggs under the chicken house that one of the hens is sitting on, she tried to peck her when she tried to gather them. I am going to block off the space so they can't go under house but how do I get them to lay in the boxes. And would the eggs still be good don't really know how long they have been under there

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would discard the eggs under the house, and definitely block access off. Fake eggs in your nestboxes as well as giving them no other good options often works. New layers will sometimes just drop eggs because they don't seem to understand what is happening. They will get it eventually.

 

[aart]

If the pullet (not called a hen until one year f age) is sitting on the nest all day and all night,
she is broody....so that's another issue you might need to deal with.

 

[CardusChicks]

Thanks for the advice. I blocked off the area under the coop area and today I got one under the roosting area at least it was in the house itself and not outside. Still waiting for them to learn to use the nesting boxes.

 

[aart]

Put some fake eggs/ golf balls in a couple of the nests.