Multiple Eggs In One Nest?

[Chandice]

This is my first time having chickens, and i couldnt find anything about this that realted exactly to whats going on, so forgive me if this is repetitive...
Im not sure how many of my chickens are laying or who exactly is doing the laying. I have found eggs in random places around the yard(they are free range), like they stopped just long enough to lat and kept going. I also found a nest yesterday while hunting down a missing hen, who was sitting on about 11 eggs. So im wondering if this could be a community nest because surely this one has not laid that many herself, because im sure that nest has not been there long enough for that. Also, how do I coax my girls into laying in the nesting boxes rather than around the yard? The one who was sitting on the nest of eggs is terrified of the coop for some reason and will not go in on her own. She wont even go in at night. So I'm not sure how to get her in there either.

I apologize if these are silly questions but I don't know what to do!

 

[sbrandewie]

Try putting fake eggs in the nest boxes so they see that is where they should be laying. The main thing that kept our hens from laying in the woods was that we were persistent on finding their hiding places and retrieving the eggs. They eventually just gave up. I would also try catching the hen and keeping them all in the coop for a few days. This may sound cruel but if you cant catch her, keep the food and water source inside the coop so that she has to eventually go back in the next time you open it up. We had a hen who was terrified of our rooster but this worked for her. We then kept them inside for about a week and she got over it. Hope this helps you out. Good luck!

 

[appps]

If you curb their free ranging for a couple of weeks and keep them confined to their run they will get in the habit of using the nest box. After the two weeks then let them out to free range in the afternoons only for another couple of weeks. You can then go back to your normal free ranging but if you find your egg numbers start to drop again and you are finding hidden nests you may need to keep up the afternoon free ranging only till they get back in the habit or even long term.

If you don't have a run attached to your coop just put up some temporary wire etc to keep them closer to their coop and nesting box.

 

[BBQJOE]

I'd lock them all up in the coop for a few weeks, until they learn that's where home is. Make a nice secluded dark nesting box in the coop. And proceed from there.