my chicken layed first egg today, tho it was not in the coop. how do i get them to lay in the coop, or is this something that i need to give time and they will do it on their own? they are free range and go in at dusk. thanks.
best thing to do is keep them up in the morning hours when most laying is done. also use faux nest eggs to attract them to the preferred nest. if they are simply laying the egg on the open ground, this will stop in time, but if the are making their own nest then this can only be broken by denying access to the out doors
I agree. For the time being I would try to keep them in a few extra hours. I've never used fake eggs (just got lucky), but I hear lots of good things about them. Once they get the hang of it you can try to let them out at your normal time. I have what I call lazy layers that won't lay until noon or later so I just cross my fingers they keep going in the box. So far so good good luck!
thanks guys, i am keeping them in the xtra hours in the morning to see how that works and will also buy some fake eggish things.