Staying in the coop longer

[cravenchx]

Should I allow my hens (once they begin laying),
to stay in the coop longer in the morning to lay?
My husband and I both work full time and leave
the house by 7:45, we usually let them out into
the run before we leave. Will this cause them not
to lay in the nesting boxes?

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

No, as long as they have access to the nesting boxes, they will come out, eat, drink, scratch and then head back to the nest when they are ready to lay. Some of my girls don't lay until late in the afternoon. They can decide if they want to be in the house, nest boxes or out in their run as they choose.

 

[cravenchx]

Thanks! They have access to underneath
the coop, but can't escape or anything get
in. I suppose I will have to close this off so
they won't lay under there.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

If they have proper nest boxes inside their coop, put some fake eggs or golf balls in there. Hens really seem to want to lay where others have laid and they don't distinguish between the fake eggs and the real ones.

Mine have never laid anywhere but their nest boxes inside their house. They've been laying for 6 months now and I just leave the plastic eggs in there. Sometimes I'll even move them around and put two in one nest. When I do that, all three hens will then lay in THAT nest. They are funny.

 

[deannabirr]

I'm fairly new to this and havent been getting eggs all that long but I can say that all of mine like to lay in the same box too. I've seen 3 of them in there at the same time wiggling on top of each other just to be in that particular box

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Quote:
Oh yea. They do that too. I once watched my 7lb Jersey Giant walk in and squawk at the 3lb Easter Egger who was in HER nest box. When the EE didn't vacate, she stepped in and sat on top of her. Was too painful to watch. I finally had to pull her off of the EE and put her in another nest and give her a few fake eggs to sit on to make it more interesting.

 

[darin367]

you don't have to block anything off... they'll use the boxes... they will all lay in 1 box this day/week/month and then all of a sudden change boxes..... i have 15 hens with 7 boxes... almost all of them will lay in 1 box, then switch to another box every week or so... i gave up on trying to figure it out.....