- Oct 16, 2014
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I used to have my chickens completely free ranging all the time. But they were getting into my garden and this was a huge problem. My garden is on the opposite side of our property to the roosting location. We built this huge run and put a little house on the side. The house has a opening to walk into but no door. The nesting boxes are raised but open, so not that much privacy. The chickens jump on the top of the nesting boxes and then onto the roosts. My problem is that I used to get between 5 and 6 eggs ever single day from my 6 hens. Now that they are in the new run I'm rarely getting six, and getting a range from 2 to 5 eggs a day. I let them out when I get home from work to free range and get some greens and they don't bother my garden. Also, I have one hen that lays her egg on the ground sometimes and the other day another hen moved all the nesting material out onto the floor and layed her egg there under the roosts. I'm thinking it might be that they don't feel there is enough privacy... but would this affect the frequency of eggs being layed? I"m really baffled and disappointed by this. How can I get my chickens to lay like they used to?