What time do yours stop laying?

[SandyRiverChick]

I keep thinking that I'm safe to let them out to range (free) after about 2pm and actually I think that even if they are out they will probably come back to the coop if they need to lay because they do make frequent trips back to sort of "check in." BUT there is alot of area to cover (we have 1 acre, they have access to 2) some wooded, so if they were laying outside of the coop, I'd probably not just sort of see those eggs..... So what time do yours typically stop? THANKS!

 

[NotTheMomma]

Well it's been really hot here lately, so mine get let out early in the morning before it's so hot. They then can find a cooler place under bushes, or wherever. So far all but one is coming back into the coop to lay. Someone just started laying yesterday and is laying in the window well to the basement. We have 10.5 acres so kinda hard to patrol everywhere they might have gone during the day. I do walk around and look for nests, but the window well, and one other nest is all I've found. The other nest was beside the coop, and the hen only used it for 3 days before going into the coop.

If your hens have already been laying, I'm betting they'll just go into the coop at laying time. If you know how many eggs you usually get, you can always just try letting them out one day and seeing what happens.

 

[Chickens n' more]

Your girls are beautiful!! I let mine free range from about 7am to dark on about 11 acres. Though they never go that far,they all go back to the coop to lay during the day. They are usually all done laying by noon or so.

 

[gamebirdsonly]

Mine free range all the time. I don't lock them up during the warmer months.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Chickens n' more :

Your girls are beautiful!! I let mine free range from about 7am to dark on about 11 acres. Though they never go that far,they all go back to the coop to lay during the day. They are usually all done laying by noon or so.

AWE, thanks! I think so... Is that a RIR Rooster in your avatar? I only have girls but wish I could have a rooster (actually worried about the noise which is pretty funny considering how loud the girls are)!, Roosters are so gorgeous.​

 

[Chickens n' more]

Yes, that is my RIR roo! He used to be pretty quiet until I got my EE roo and now he crows ALL DAY LONG! I think he is VERY jealous!

 

[Metanoia]

My mums free range on 5 acres and she rarely has one stash her eggs... and then it is usually if they find a way into the hay shed and they go back to nest boxes once their entry is found and blocked off. She lets hers out in the morning and puts them to bed at night.

I have 6 in an urban backyard and usually get my eggs in the morning before I am up to let them out. Occassionally we get an afternoon egg. One went silly on sunday afternoon... and sure enough, at 2pm she popped herself in a nest box and out came an egg!

You have some beautiful brown hens there! Gorgeous!

 

[tcwk]

My girls look exactly like yours and only one is laying right now and she lays every morning before 10:30.

And do you know what kind of chickens you have? I have no clue what they are I just got them at TSC.

 

[Granolamom]

That's a REALLY pretty flock you got there, I just love to see happy, free-ranging hens - they look so much healthier when they get to live like they were meant to...

!
As for laying times, mine do most of their laying before 2pm, but once in a while there'll be a straggler, who wanders into the coop in late afternoon. All but one of my hens return to the coop to lay their eggs in their nesting boxes (our only Buff Orpington, Sarah, found a better spot: the corner hay feeder in the goat shed, because it's soft and smells good, and nobody disturbs her there. Yup, she's a Queen...)

 

[flymamma]

Quote:
Those I believe are Rhode I sland Reds .. mine look the same too , I am excited to waite for eggs from them !