roaming free

[love them chick]

Our chickens roost in a chicken tractor at night. We let them roam free all over the place during the day. At night our Donald chicken (her nickname) leads them all back to the roost. Question: Will they lay their eggs where the roost?
A friend said once the lay their first egg that is where they will always lay, is the true?
Our first chicks were given to us around Easter so I think we have until August for the first egg, I will start checking at the end of July. We love these silly girls and I am hoping or all of them to be girls.

 

[gritsar]

Add nestboxes to the tractor in the next week or two and add some dummy eggs to get them used to the idea that there's where eggs go. Dummy eggs don't have to be specially made fake eggs either, golf balls will do. Chickens aren't bright enough to tell the difference.
You might find an egg or two out of place when they first start laying, but that's just new girls not quite having the hang of the whole egg laying business.
ETA: It's untrue that once they lay in one spot that's where they will always lay. Hens will develop favorites amongst the nestboxes, but most of the time they look for where others have laid and everyone wants to use the box full of eggs.
Since you are free ranging during the day you might have an easter egg hunt every day. You can lock them up for a week or so when they first start laying to give them the idea that eggs belong in a nestbox, just make sure they have easy access to the nestboxes.