Where will my eggs be???

[markofthebee33]

I am a newb and my hens seem very close to laying. They have a coop that I keep them in at night so coons and coyotes cant get them with a small fence that really serves NO purpose at all. During the day though they have free range of the back yard. Will they just lay wherever? I have no desire to cage them or confine them but I'm concerned I wont get to the eggs in time if I can't find them. What should I look for? Do they bury them? How long do they last on the ground? I need some advise from the more experienced chickeneers!!! Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[kuntrygirl]

They will lay in the nesting boxes that you provide for them.

 

[markofthebee33]

They refuse to go in them. They sleep up on the opposite shelf in the coop away from the boxes, but they only go in there coop at night to sleep. What then?

 

[chickenpredatorkiller]

what I would do is, wait for the first egg, then put a couple things like golf balls or wooden or fake eggs in the nest boxes to encourage them to lay there. Its normal for them to not want to go in there, they like sleeping on a perch. The fake "Eggs" will hopefully trick them into laying in the boxes. Hope this helps

 

[TwoCrows]

I am wondering the same thing, although my girls have a very large garden area to roam. So where and when are they going to lay?! I put fake eggs in the nest box so that they will get the hint. My girls only go into the coop at night also, but they have seen the eggs in the box and I am hoping that will let them know where to lay them. Try it, that may help.

 

[Nikkumz]

Well they wont go in or sleep in the nest boxes at all, you dont want that. You just need to put some fake eggs or golf balls in the nest boxes and they will get the idea, i put each of my girls in the nest box once a day with the fake eggs in it so they understand thats where the eggs should go once they start laying.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Ok. Well, I would use fake eggs or golf balls for them to see.

 

[WKYChick]

Quote:
I agree, when I knew that my pullets are nearing laying age and waiting for their 1st egg, I tossed some golf balls into the boxes, my EE laid her first egg in the nest box inside the hen house her egg was right beside the golf ball it looked funny, my hens seem to like their boxes deep with pine shavings in it, I added a curtain and it seemed to help 'seclude' them from watchful eyes.

I have a bantam that loves to lay her egg in the middle of my banana pepper plants that are inside a big pot

but if they are allowed to lay where ever, you will find them anywhere, we have found ours nside the sand box, inside the garage in several places like the tents we had folded not rolled, on top of the air hockey table, empty boxes, empty planters and other people have found them under porches, bushes, sheds. It will become and Easter egg hunt!

I wish you the best of luck and I hope they do lay in the nest boxes, try plastic Easter eggs, golf balls or wooden eggs and see if it works for you

 

[MommyMagpie]

I have brown egg layers and my older girls would not lay in the box until I bought a wooden craft egg (brown) from Michaels and put it in the box. It was huge but they did quit laying right under the roost (in the poop, ew). I had a golf ball in there at first, then a yellow plastic egg.

My new girls either lay in the box or right next to it, under the poop board in the clean shavings. Both places are easy to reach through my handy-dandy egg-collection flap so I'm not going to argue with them any more.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Everyone has their own system and lots of them are successful. My system is simple and I don't use golf ball, I use real eggs from real hens.

I integrate young pullets with slightly older hens (less than year old) at point of lay. The younger pullets are tutored by the older pullets, or so it seems to me.
Secondly, I do not allow young, learning "we lay here" pullets out of the barn until noon, since the majority of pullets lay before noon. At noon, I release the hounds!!!

It's a system that has worked for me. Never had a laying off site issue, knock on wood.