I have 5 RIR that are about 10 months old and they have been laying like clockwork in the nesting box all summer. This weekend, I put a good amount of straw in the coop to prepare for winter. This afternoon, I looked for eggs in the nesting box and there were none. Later on I went in the coop and they made a new nest in the corner and there were the eggs. Should I be concerned that they did not lay in the box today. I am trying to layer the coop for the winter, but I do not want to start a bad habit of them laying in the coop and not the boxes. any thoughts or advice? I have no problem removing the straw if it comes down to it, I was just trying to prepare for winter.....I live in New England THANKS!!!!!
They are liking the nice layer of straw you threw in there. Try putting a bunch more straw in their nest boxes and also put their eggs in there. Smoosh down the straw in the middle of the nest to make it more "nesty."
Usually my chickens lay in the nesting boxes provided, but I find that,from time to time, they decide to lay 'off-piste', as I call it. I sometimes think that it might be because there is a queue to lay in the nesting boxes, and once they have found a new place they go there again and again. As all my chickens are completely free-range I don't always find the eggs immediately. On one occasion there were more than 30 when I finally tracked them down! To keep some kind of control I provide a range of other attractive nesting sites around the garden, such as a cat-box in the log-shed, an old lawn-mower grass catcher under a bush and an old plastic waste bin on its side, all of these lined with straw. It seems to do the trick, and I can now account for most of my eggs.
