laying question

[cybrchick]

If the chickens free range, once they start laying, will they lay in the henhouse or will I have to do an egg hunt thru the property and brush?

 

[Rich386]

If the chickens free range, once they start laying, will they lay in the henhouse or will I have to do an egg hunt thru the property and brush?

I only let mine free range a few hours late in the day until they start to lay. The rest of the day they are in the run. After that I let them out all day. I believe that doing it that way they learn that the nest is the place. I rarely find an egg any where else. This is just the way I have always done it and it works for me. I think in the last few months I found one egg not in the nest.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I only let mine free range a few hours late in the day until they start to lay. The rest of the day they are in the run. After that I let them out all day. I believe that doing it that way they learn that the nest is the place. I rarely find an egg any where else. This is just the way I have always done it and it works for me. I think in the last few months I found one egg not in the nest.

At the beginning, a pullet has absolutely no idea where you think she should lay her egg. Keep them in the henhouse/run until 3 pm. This is a training period when she must adopt your provided nest as her own. Given the long days, this still allows for ranging about from 3 pm until about 8 pm. That's a solid five hours.

Once the pattern has been established for laying inside the coop, you can slowly move the release time up to about 2 pm.

 

[4 the Birds]

A chicken will rarely if ever lay an egg out in the exposed open brush. They lay their eggs in shelters or protected areas. If your free range area just has a coop and open fields then you are fine. If your free range area has a lot of out buildings and structures then they will develop favorite nesting spots. Mine pretty much just lay in their nest boxes or under the goat loafing bench. Never out in the field even when portions of the field get to be waist high.