It sounds strange, but bear with me! My neighbor has chickens that free range her property and mine during the day. I enjoy them, give them snacks and keep an eye on them. She had 5-6 hens and two roos at the end of last year. Right after she got chicks in March, she took in 6-7 hens from someone who needed to rehome them urgently.
In the am when she lets all the birds out, this years 6 chicks/pullets, aka the Nuggets, come straight to my house and stay until it's bedtime. The older birds roam between the two properties. The Nuggets are around 6 months old now and we're expecting them to start laying soon. The problem is, we both expect that to be on my property. I have started checking the spots they spend most of their time daily, but no eggs yet.There's two places they seem to like the most, under my pines and under a small deck that was for an above ground pool we took down years ago. It butts up to the back of my garage and is currently blanketed by wild grape vines and surrounded by my husband's mess of tractors, trailers, and tall weeds. The pines have a nice carpet of needles underneath but it's gravel under the pool deck.
I don't want to encourage them to lay over here, but if they're going to anyway, should I provide them with nesting materials? Like nest boxes and some type of bedding under that deck? At least maybe they'll lay in spots I can easily monitor. I'm also hoping
that when they're confined to the coop & run during the winter, that'll fix them from continuing to lay over here when spring comes again.
In the am when she lets all the birds out, this years 6 chicks/pullets, aka the Nuggets, come straight to my house and stay until it's bedtime. The older birds roam between the two properties. The Nuggets are around 6 months old now and we're expecting them to start laying soon. The problem is, we both expect that to be on my property. I have started checking the spots they spend most of their time daily, but no eggs yet.There's two places they seem to like the most, under my pines and under a small deck that was for an above ground pool we took down years ago. It butts up to the back of my garage and is currently blanketed by wild grape vines and surrounded by my husband's mess of tractors, trailers, and tall weeds. The pines have a nice carpet of needles underneath but it's gravel under the pool deck.
I don't want to encourage them to lay over here, but if they're going to anyway, should I provide them with nesting materials? Like nest boxes and some type of bedding under that deck? At least maybe they'll lay in spots I can easily monitor. I'm also hoping
that when they're confined to the coop & run during the winter, that'll fix them from continuing to lay over here when spring comes again.
