Can I put a tracker on my chicken?

[cecilia00099]

One of my chickens (a Campine) only lays in the nest box if the chickens are shut in the run the whole day. Otherwise she prefers to lay somewhere in the garden. My Barnevelder hid 25 eggs under a dense bush, but once I found this spot (and left a marked egg) I always knew where to collect her eggs.

This Campine chicken seems to use a spot that we can't leave undisturbed permanently (like a portable stage we use for house concerts), so if we disturb her preferred location she will promptly find a new one.

I was wondering if there was a small tracker of some sort that I could attach to her leg and locate her with an App on my phone.

I'm sure I'm not the only chicken mother with this problem?

Any ideas?

Cecilia
www.theduckpond.com.au

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!

Many chicken keepers have problems with free range hens laying in 'secret' or 'hidden' nests precipitating a daily easter egg hunt.

Don't think I've ever heard of a tracking device being used.....that would be interesting.
There are lots of tracking devices on there, finding one that is small enough and accurate enough would be difficult and could be very expensive.

 

[superlukee]

Instead of a tracker , try not letting her free range in the morning keeping her in the coop/run untill she lays her egg then let her out once the egg is layed

 

[cecilia00099]

If I keep one chicken in the pen it means that the others can't get in there to lay their eggs! Also she sometimes misses a day laying.

My husband and I are going to do a systematic search of the garden today - but it's an acre of garden, with a lot of dense bushes. The chickens are always with me in the garden (they love weeding) and I can just see this bad chicken sniggering away as the troop follows us around on our hunt.

Cecilia

 

[aart]

If I keep one chicken in the pen it means that the others can't get in there to lay their eggs! Also she sometimes misses a day laying.

My husband and I are going to do a systematic search of the garden today - but it's an acre of garden, with a lot of dense bushes. The chickens are always with me in the garden (they love weeding) and I can just see this bad chicken sniggering away as the troop follows us around on our hunt.

Cecilia

Well, yeah, you'd have to lock all of them up.

Might be worth trying to 're-train' them all to the coop nests:
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop for 3-4 days (or longer) can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.