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Will my chickens go in the coop to lay eggs?

Discussion in 'Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying' started by cruzin4chicks, Aug 9, 2014.

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  1. Aug 9, 2014 #1
    cruzin4chicks

    cruzin4chicks Hatching

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    Jun 21, 2014
    Littleton, CO
    I am a first time chicken owner and two of my girls are now 23 weeks old (Buff Orpingtons) and will hopefully lay soon. I have made them a nesting box and even put a fake egg in it and it is in the coop. I have never seen them go in the coop during the day though. I am hoping they will go in there to lay so I don't have to go egg hunting every day. Has anybody else experienced this and what happened when their chickens started laying. They have free range of my whole back yard so not just a designated run.
     
  2. Aug 9, 2014 #2
    ShinShien

    ShinShien Crowing

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    Oct 1, 2013
    Alabama
    When they first start, they might lay anywhere. I found a few random eggs in my backyard, where the chickens live. They quickly started using the boxes in the coop afterwards. I use golf balls as dummy eggs.
     
  3. Aug 9, 2014 #3
    1muttsfan

    1muttsfan Free Ranging 7 Years

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    Mar 26, 2011
    Upper Peninsula Michigan
    You might try leaving them in the coop for a few hours after sunrise, many birds tend to lay earlier in the day. I would also use fake eggs in the nest box.
     

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