Persistent laying away - should I build them a nesting box in barn?

[Gypsy07]

I free range my chickens every day, but I try to keep them in till mid morning so I get a pile of eggs before I let them out. But I have a few stubborn ladies who hold on with their legs crossed and just will not lay in the coop. As soon as I let them out they sprint off as fast as possible to lay their eggs in our straw shed. If I follow them and return them to the coop they run off to the shed again. If I return them to the coop and shut them in they just cross their legs again and hold on to their egg. It's comical but I'm losing a lot of eggs every day.

Would building them a nice comfy nesting box in the shed work, or would they just ignore it and keep laying in hidey holes where I can't find the eggs?

 

[Highlander]

When mine were laying in the bushes I had to lock them into the coop 24/7 for about 10 days. They learned to lay in the nest boxes after that.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Yeah, I used to do that when I had fewer chickens. It would work for a day or so then they would just go back to their old ways. But I have so many chickens now and my coop-and-run is a bit on the small side to keep them all shut in for days on end. I'm only getting away with it at the moment by free ranging them from dawn till dark but in all honesty they're a bit overcrowded in there.

I'm hoping to get a second shed for them this weekend but I'm not planning on building a run for it. I'm just going to put temporary fence panels round it for a week or so till they get used to going into it at night. If they REALLY prefer laying in the shed I just thought a nesting box out there would be a good compromise. I don't mind meeting them halfway, LOL!

 

[dandelionheart]

A box or basket reused from something else would be a cheap experiment. I'd give in.

Worth a shot anyway.

 

[Cass]

If they were mine I'd just give in. Life is too short to fight with something with a brain the size of a pea. Put a box near their favorite hiding place, add an egg or two and hope they get the hint.

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:

I guess that is all too true!

 

[BWKatz]

I finally got thru to my Polish who were laying and then burying them. I took a fresh laid egg and put in kitty litter nest box. Then I put each Polish on egg after showing it to them and petted them telling them what good girls they were. Both laid in the nest the next day.

 

[Gypsy07]

Your chickens were BURYING their eggs? OMG! What are they - squirrel crosses? At least I don't have that problem... yet.