Where to look for eggs?

[Curlita]

Two of my chickens are right around 4 months old (a Black Star and an Ancona) and I am anxiously awaiting my first egg. I have tried showing them the nesting box in their coop, but they are not interested. They don't use their roosts, either. So I will be surprised if the eggs wind up in the nesting box.

So where should I be looking for them? When they are out free-ranging, they spend a lot of time hunkered down under a camellia bush. In the run, they hang out under the coop when it's hot.

I don't want to miss the first one!

 

[Chirpy]

If they are free ranging during 'normal' egg laying hours (early morning to middle afternoon) then you may never find their eggs. Some people find a stash accidentally. I found one in my barn behind a hay bale once. You just have to start looking all over, especially darker spots (like under the bush you mentioned).

Do you have a fake egg or golfball in their nest boxes? Sometimes that helps them figure out where to lay.

Personally, I like to lock my chickens up for a few days once they start laying so they have to lay in the nest boxes (or on the ground but still in the coop). Then, once they are let out they almost always go back to the nest boxes to lay.

Have you tried to go out after dark and pick up your chickens and place them on their roosts? That can also help them learn where to sleep.

 

[Curlita]

Thanks, just knowing their "normal" laying time helps. Most days I don't let them out of their run to range until late afternoon/early evening.

I showed them the roosts and the nesting box a few times after first moving them outside. I have a ball in the nesting box right now and I keep meaning to go out and re-introduce them to the various features of their coop.