My Chickens are playing Easter egg hunt with me..... Then I found them

[MannyM]

So I adopted three laying hens about a month ago. I have a roost that is nice and big with 6 individual cubbies to lay in. At first they all started laying in the roost with good consistency but about 2 weeks ago 2 of my hens began to lay more sporadically. Being that my hens are free range, I automatically assumed that they were laying in my bushes. So I started cleaning out the few bushes that they have access to, with no luck. I was stumped …

Just around the time I started thinking that these hens were going to become my favorite Mexican dish (Mole). I went to clean out my cats litter box. Yup, you guessed it…. I had over a half a dozen eggs in the cat litter.

So…. How do I get my hens to start laying in the roost again? Or do I respect their wishes and arrange a litter box just for them. Please give me some knowledge, Thank you

 

[aart]

Keep them locked up in the coop for a few days to a week.

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.