Newly laying chickens laying EVERYWHERE!!!

[dldolan]

HI!
I have five hens that are new to me (ten days living with me now) AND just started laying! I got five eggs yesterday and today--whoo hoo! They didn't all get the nest box idea at first, and since I am maybe the only place in the country right now that is cold in the morning (45-50* until 11am when the fog burns off), they have not been laying until the sun warms them up, so early afternoon. BUT, they finally did all decide to lay in the nexting boxes, and will walk back into their run, up the ramp to the henhouse to use the boxes to lay. So, free-ranging in my garden & orchard, they still come back "home" to lay. I did make the first places they laid on the ground "uncomfortable", so they wouldn't be prone to repeat that (big rocks in the depressions they had dug out), and tried a few different size nesting boxes until we got the right ones and right level of shavings (--about 3 inches seems comfy to my gals).

Actually, i have been surprised at how "trainable" my gals seem to be thus far. They all come running to the rain stick I shake when treats are being put out, and will all let me pick them up after just ten days. So far, so good!

 

[MTMom]

Today the big girls are going to be locked in the coop/run ALL day...and I'm going to keep this up for a week. They are sooo not happy w/ me! I'm pretty sure they were just discussing an escape plan amongst themselves. Will let you know how it goes and if I get more eggs today.

 

[Cheep]

Quote:
Hmmmm very interesting. I have 6 hens & only one (an EE) is (apparently) not laying. She is at the bottom of the pecking order too, so now I am going to start getting on my hands & knees for some sleuthing

 

[MTMom]

So I've been keeping my big girls in the coup/run for the last few days and not letting them free range at all. So far, I've been getting 2-3 eggs....IN the nesting boxes!!!

However, just today we heard one of our 18 week old Leghorn girls singing the "I just laid an egg" song on one of our back decks. My husband (the life-long cattle man) says to me, "Honey, I think one of your chickens just calved!!" I'll have to keep working on him. But back to the chickens. So now I'm going to keep EVERYONE in the coup/run for several days to see if anyone else starts laying. I hope for their sake we can get all of them happily laying in the boxes ASAP because it just breaks my heart to see how much they want out and I can't let them just now.

 

[Nic&Chickies]

My husband (the life-long cattle man) says to me, "Honey, I think one of your chickens just calved!!" I'll have to keep working on him. But back to the chickens.

Now, I've been stifling my giggles so much, I forgot why I was reading this in the first place.

At least I haven't gotten any funny looks or comments from my son or nephew in the next room.​

 

[basketballndl]

I had the same problems with my hens for about the first 6 months of their egg laying career. I would lock them in the coop for a week or so. they'll have to lay their eggs somewhere..right? so they will lay in the egg boxes. especially if you have another hen as a good example. They'll get the feel for the egg boxes and hopefully go into the coop to lay when they are free range... It worked for my hens. hopefully it will go the same for yours!


GOOD LUCK!