new hens

[daddilo]

What should i do to make my new hens start laying. and how long till i can let them free range in my yard

 

[debilorrah]

You just got them, right? How old are they? We got ours 7 weeks ago and they started laying right away, however, it was one egg every other day, then 2, then 3, etc. We believe that some of them have just now approached laying age. We now get between 3-4 eggs per day with 6 hens.

 

[PeeperKeeper]

Were they laying before you got them?

 

[daddilo]

here is the senario, i built a coupe 4x4 6 feet tall, the have a run 5x16, i just got 3 red sexling pullets 9 weeks old, then a friend gave me some laying hens, one araucana, one bantam and one barred rock, so how long do i keep them in the run before i can let them free range, and what should i do to laying hens to make them cofortable to lay

 

[debilorrah]

You could let them free range at any time, but beware of predators. To make them comfortable, there is avariety of ways to build nesting boxes - barrels on their sides, milk crates turned on their side, build your own, etc. They will need a roost inside for the night time. You don;t want to leave them out at night as that is when most predators roam. Hope this helps.

 

[SterlingAcres]

Let them adjust to the move. It could take days, it could take weeks. You can't really say. They'll lay when they're ready.
As far as the free range, I'd think 1-2 weeks inside the run would do them good.

Good luck and welcome to BYC.

 

[daddilo]

With my schedule i plan on letting them in the run in the morning with food and water, work come home around 3 let them free range and close them up when dark on weekend they will be out much more. so just afraid they will take off.. so if i leave them in for 1 week after that i could just open the door and when it gets dark they should go back in the their coupe.

 

[MagsC]

Give them time. Chickens arent real good about change and they need to adjust to something new.

 

[debilorrah]

Because I am afraid of predators, ours are cooped all day, and they lay just fine, they are happy chickens. Is there a reason you want to free range?