We're clueless, but the birds seem happy.

selenah

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Hi everyone! In the last 14 months, my husband and I had a baby, moved out of the city onto 5 acres of land in the middle of nowhere, and got chickens! We're pretending/trying to be homesteaders, though really we're both lawyers. :) Our chickens are just over 6 months old now, and one has started to lay. But not in the nesting boxes, unfortunately. Looking forward to learning a lot from you all!
 
Welcome to BYC!
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Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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Congrats on your new flock! Get some fake eggs, either brown or white depending on your breeds. You can get these on line here at many poultry supply places. Make sure your nest boxes are clean and fresh and just leave these eggs in the boxes. I leave fake eggs in all my boxes all the time even years later. Keeps the birds using all the boxes when they see an egg in there. Hens are comfortable laying where they think another hen has laid her egg.

Good luck and congrats on the first eggs!!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! TwoCrows gave you some good suggestions, also make sure your nesting boxes dark and easy to get into for the hens. Sometimes new pullets especially don't know what is happening, or it takes them a lot longer to lay and egg, and they may just drop them in odd places until they get more used to laying.
 
Wcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

X3 on the fake eggs. Fake eggs show hens where to lay. Seeing the eggs makes the hens feel safe. Hens naturally lay where there are other eggs. Wooden, plastic or clay are best. Golf balls are wonderf substitutes for fake eggs.
 
Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. What kind of chickens do you have?
 
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and advice! We have two Rhode Island Reds (we lost one a couple of months ago - cause unknown) and three Black Australops. We let them out of the coop in the morning and put them "to bed" around 7-8 pm - during the day they wander around our 5 acres. We have three wooden nesting boxes sitting on the floor of the coop, with pine shavings. And I recently put a couple of egg-shaped rocks in each box. (Should that work in the place of fake eggs?) But still no success with that.

I think only one of our gals is laying so far. She laid one egg in a nesting box, then we had no eggs for many days. One morning I heard her vocalizing pretty loudly outside, so I went outside and discovered her nest. With five eggs! I think she had been laying one there each day since we found the first egg. That's when I put the "fake eggs" (rocks) in the nesting boxes, but still no luck. And now she isn't laying in the nest she made either. I haven't found her new spot yet. Sheesh.

I read on another thread on this forum the suggestion to keep them locked in the coop for a few days. I feel bad doing that. It's pretty dark in there, even during the day, and I think they're pretty accustomed to their freedom by now. But I also want some eggs! This organic food they're eating is expensive -- I need some way to justify it. :)
 
Sorry about the loss of your RIR. You have some good, hardy, dependable breeds. Black Australorps are my favorite standard breed; very hardy, calm and gentle, and excellent layers. Don't feel back about locking them in the coop for a few days. Sometimes it's necessary to imprint on them the fact that this is where I need to be laying. Good luck in getting those eggs.
 

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