Laying Issue- Hens Laying in new spot

[Tbunny89]

Hi,

I have a mini pig and 5 chickens. Only 2 of them are old enough to lay. I bought the pig a big wooden house, and she filled it herself with hay and blankets. My older hens have started laying in the pig house. Instead of their coop! The pig house has straw and the coop has pine shavings.

the pig is eating ALL the eggs. I don't want to separate the animals bc they both need access to the free range area. Its just part of my set up. One thing I can do is to close the door to the coop and MAKE Them stay on their side. Would this show them the way back to laying to where they are supposed to?

I also ordered another dog house that I will build legs for and see if they want a new nesting area??

THANKS!

 

[Den in Penn]

Laying where they are not supposed to is something most every free ranger comes across sooner or latter. The advise generally is to lock them in the coop till they get back in the habit of laying in the coop. You can also disturb the place where they are nesting, but since the pig sleeps there that could be a problem. Another thing is to use fake eggs or golf balls in the nest where you want them to lay. They tend to like to lay where another hen has decided it is a good place to lay.

 

[Mrs. K]

I am just getting my girls to lay back in the right spot! I knew I had a secret nest, finally found it. I desturbed it, moving the things around it so it was not dark and shady. Then they made a different nest, took me a while, found that. Not too hard to reach, so I thought what the heck. I pulled nearly a dozen eggs out. Well that was enough, now they went back to the house where I want them to lay!

Chickens!

 

[aart]

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 2-3 days can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests.
They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, 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.