Where are my chickens laying?

[rocketdoctor]

I am remodeling my current chicken coop into a barn for a pig and planning on building a coop on the back of it. I had to start construction by tearing most of the coop apart including a portion of the run and just let the chickens free range for the past couple weeks. I moved the egg nest to the new location where the coop will be built but theres nothing elese around it. Initially I saw some chickens sit in it but no eggs. I haven't seen any eggs anywhere for the past week, where could they be laying or are they not laying at all? I should have the new coop fixed and the run all secure by this weekend, so hoping they will get back to normal when I confine them back to their coop and run.

 

[Judy]

They are almost undoubtedly laying in hidden nests. They will not be happy about confinement after runnning loose, and this will stress them some, and may affect their laying. Right now you will probably find the eggs in a well hidden spot, one with a low "ceiling" if they can find one, like under a house or porch. Another favorite is well hidden in thick bushes. It can take some real detective work to find hidden eggs. Of course, the eggs might be being eaten by some other animal.

 

[rocketdoctor]

They are almost undoubtedly laying in hidden nests. They will not be happy about confinement after runnning loose, and this will stress them some, and may affect their laying.

Yeah I figure they will be a unhappy once they are confined again, I do let them free range from time to time, but problem is they keep coming up on my deck and in the house to eat dog food. They are making a mess of the place, I need to get them confined again. Funny thing is I see them hanging out alot in their run that has one side open, probably because Ive been doing a lot of digging there building a new retaining wall and they like all the insects I dug up.