Anyone with chickens able to help?

daisygirl17 · August 2011

One of our three hens just started laying...but she's laying outside the coop. She made a nest in the yard. We started keeping the hens in the coop longer after doing some research (used to let them out at 9am)...so the last two days we let them out at noon. Well, in the last two days now she's laid NO eggs. Today we let her out this AM and it doesn't look like she's laid anything. Is she being stubborn now because we've been keeping her in the coop longer?

What can we do to encourage her to lay in the nest box? Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

kdello · August 2011

I've never had this issue- is there a "line" for the nest box? Perhaps she's laying outside because the nest box isn't big enough?

Ruby_Soho · August 2011

I don't have chickens but MIL does. Make sure you have enough nest boxes, that they're off the ground, they're nice and comfy and in a quiet, dark spot. If all that is good you can put a fake egg or a golf ball in there to train them!

You're on the right track keeping them in till noon. If you feel bad about that you can hang heads of lettuce or broccoli in their coop to give them something to do Wink

j.h.mommy · August 2011

For some reason one of our chickens likes to wait and lay hers behind a straw bale after we let them out. If I wait she'll lay it in the coop, but then she pecks at it and eats it. Maybe she is laying it, and eating it? Weird answer, but you never know.

daisygirl17 · August 2011

j.h.mommy:
For some reason one of our chickens likes to wait and lay hers behind a straw bale after we let them out. If I wait she'll lay it in the coop, but then she pecks at it and eats it. Maybe she is laying it, and eating it? Weird answer, but you never know.

Hmmmm thanks! I really hope not...but who knows. Wouldn't I see egg residue or no?

daisygirl17 · August 2011

Ruby_Soho:
I don't have chickens but MIL does. Make sure you have enough nest boxes, that they're off the ground, they're nice and comfy and in a quiet, dark spot. If all that is good you can put a fake egg or a golf ball in there to train them!
You're on the right track keeping them in till noon. If you feel bad about that you can hang heads of lettuce or broccoli in their coop to give them something to do

Thanks! And thanks to the person before you too Yes we do have all these things.. And we have 2 golf balls in there right now. I'm hoping that one of these days we'll find an egg in there and she just took a break for a couple of days, but we'll see! Thanks for the thoughts!

WaitingOnTwoPinkLines · August 2011

Chickens lay in cycles. They will only lay between the hours of 9am & 3pm (if I remember my Animal Science class correctly) & it takes 26-28 hours to create an egg, so they will lay for a few days & then rest for a few days.

Interesting fact: when the chicks are developing in their eggs, the ones laid first click their beaks together at a fast rate to speed the development of the ones laid later, who are clicking their beaks at a slower rate to slow down the ones laid first. They all equalize each other, which is why a clutch of eggs laid over a week or longer timeframe all hatch within 24 hours or so.

Try putting a few plastic eggs in the nesting boxes (like the ones you get at Easter). They don't care what color they are. That's how my mom used to train our young hens where to lay.

mrr15 · August 2011

The heat has made my chickens all crazy with their laying. We keep them in the coop with a fake egg and that has always helped, but since these triple digit temps came early this summer, they won't lay or they lay in odd places in the evening. I figured once it gets cooler they will go back to their old ways. Wishful thinking? Anyway, good luck with your chicken.

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