Wife Wants Hens In Lockdown

[33yardbirds]

All kinds of songs from the woods a few in the coop. I say they're practicing, she says they're laying all over the woods and wants them confined to the coop and run. We have the Decoys in the boxes. What would you do? It's like putting your dog on a chain.

 

[Kittymomma]

Lock them down. You'll only have to do it for a couple of weeks, once they've gotten used to the boxes they'll come back to them (for the most part) when you let them free range again.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Quote:
Yup. Once they learn where you want them to lay, they will lay there from now on.

 

[sourland]

Lock them up during the day, and free range them in the evening after you get home from work.

 

[Mrs. K]

Really penning them up for a few days is good for everything. It discourages any local predators, it gets the hens laying in the boxes, then let them free range for a bit. Keep it mixed up, not set and dried, dawn to dusk free ranging, not 24/7 lock in the run. Then if you have to do either, your hens have experience with it.

They get the advantages of both, Run - saftey, eggs in nests and proper nutrinal feed; and Free range -space,cleanliness and bugs.

MrsK

 

[sonew123]

totally agree. I do this when aot of my pullets get to the POL. I get tired of finding eggs on the ground, flor of coop, hidden nests, etc... its best for all and it is a short time until they learn where to lay there eggs-totally worth it!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I didn't know my chickens had been laying for nearly a week when I found several dozen eggs hidden in 2 different places!! Not a single one in a nestbox. Lock them down for a week. They'll get a clue and then can go back to playing in the woods

 

[TeamChaos]

My chickens are let out of the coop at 7 and hang out in the run until about 10:30, when all the eggs have (usually) been laid. The rest of the day they are free ranging.