Eggs outside!

[SunChick]

My buff orpington and austrolorp pullets are starting to lay. They are laying outside the coop! I have nest boxes inside the coop with golf balls and all the other pullets lay inside. Why could they be laying outside when all they have to do is play follow the leader? Think the big girls won't let them nest? I really don't want to collect eggs outside---or should I add a nest box in the run portion of the coop?

 

[wynedot55]

when you have new pullets laying.you need to leave them locked in the henhouse.so they learn to lay in the henhouse.or else youll be having an egg hunt everyday for awhile.

 

[fosterchick]

I had this same problem. I did lock them up in the house for a while. But that never stopped it. so I just put a four hole nesting box outside. The few birds use that.

 

[tiffanyh]

Try putting a few eggs where you want them to lay--worked for my ladies!

 

[CarriBrown]

I used golf balls to train mine. It worked for me!

 

[akcskye]

We have been doing large amounts of yardwork so we have brush piles everywhere.

When my girls forget or don't want to use the nest box, they lay somewhere "in the trenches".

So, when that happens, they all get grounded to the hen house/pen area for a day, and then, they start laying in their nest box again.

It's like they have to be retrained.