My chicks started laying today - in all the wrong places!

[Kristinms]

We purchased our first chicks a little over a year ago and this April added four more to our flock. I was delighted and surprised when I found one of the pullets' first eggs on the floor of our coop this morning. I became a little concerned, however, when my son found another tiny egg on the ground behind the coop, and yet another on the grass in the middle of the yard. Our older hens lay in the nesting boxes without fail, and I also keep a ceramic egg in one of the boxes as a "reminder." The littles just started laying today - literally. How do I teach them where they should be laying? I let them free-range all day because everyone seems to get along better that way. Should I keep them in the run until the pullets learn what's what?

 

[aart]

They can be pretty goofy when they first start to lay and have little control of when that egg emerges at first.
It can take up to a month or so for things to smooth out.

You can either give them time to figure it out or keep them all confined to the coop until they get in the habit of using the coop nests.

Are the older birds picking on the pullets?
They can sometimes be intimidated or bullied away from the nests.

 

[Kristinms]

I do have one hen in particular who is overly assertive toward the pullets, especially when I don't allow them to free-range. I kept them in the coop and run this morning and the only egg that anyone laid was in the run. I've let them out into the yard now and suppose I'll give it some time and see if they figure it out. In the meantime, we'll just pretend it's Easter and hunt for eggs in the back yard.