If it were me, and I wanted them to free range....I'd keep them penned until late morning and then let them out to range....they will most likely lay in the am but if not, they will probably come back to the nest to lay...

how big of an area are they free ranging in ??

my one hen has a little house she nests in, lays in, and goes into at nite. she has an area over a hundred feet long and just a little less wide and she goes into lay in her box in the afternoon. and free ranges all day before and after.

hope that helps

CI

The yard is 3 acres and pasture on three sides. There are lots of pine and cedar trees and bushes that they could snuggle in and lay. I just don't know what their first inclination would be. If they start the habit of laying in other places than the nest box it seems it'd be a hard habit to break. Thanks!

Just make the nest area the most attractive, protected, private spot--place the feeders and waterers near it, and provide lovely, dark, hidey-hole type nests with plenty of nesting material. Try to keep any other undesirable nesting areas clear of anything to lay eggs in and open so there isn't a place to 'hide'.

Even then, some hens will pick out their own little weird places to lay, I had one hen who insisted on laying her eggs in a gravel-filled wheelbarrow, despite the perfectly fine nest boxes we provided. *L* Be ready for anything, even 'laying away', when the girls get together and decide to hide a nest and elect one of the sisterhood to go broody. *G*

Velvet ~:>

My hens lay eggs in their nest box & in 2 barrels. I keep a golf ball in each of those places to keep them laying there. I tried leaving marked eggs but something always ate them at night. Keep a "nest egg" in their nest box to keep them always feeling comfortable laying there...

When my pulletts started laying I kept them in until around 4P.M. Some layed later in the day. If I didn't we would have the daily egg hunt. Mine were fond of a Chiminea
and an areca palm.. Some eggs were never found.. Now that they are grown they seem to come back to the hen house to lay if I let them out earlier. Kit

We had nesting boxes in the chicken house when we got six chicks. We lock up the chicken house at night and liberate the chickens early in the morning. They have a large fenced in area and go in and out of the house all day. Before they matured,the pullets became interested in the boxes, going in and out. The first hen to lay did so in a nesting box--she laid a double!--I still remember the squawking! Almost all of the eggs from all six after that were in the nesting boxes. Interesting: there has always been a favoite box where we find most, if not all, of the eggs. But the favorite box changes over time. We got another hen this fall and she would lay on the floor, in a nice soft area under the nesting boxes. Now this has become "the" spot to lay eggs so we'll get 4-5 there and two in one of the nesting boxes. They are just about always done laying by noon.

This afternoon when I got home from school I let them out to free range and one of my two that hatched last May and one of the young pullets had laid in the nest boxes. I went back out around 5:20 and the other hen that hatched out in May was at the edge of the woods and got in a "funny" position - I stood there and watched her - SHE LAID AN EGG. Didn't make a sound, didn't even attempt to head back to the pen/coop just continued scratching away. Of the two that hatched in May one will sometimes skip a day laying - now I know her tricks. I'll bet she's done that not for the first time! Isn't it odd to lay so late in the day? Also another question: The pullets (Astralorps, Buff Orpingtons and ??Dominiques??) are 21 weeks old and only one Dominiques is laying. When will the others get going with egg production? Thanks!

I have no experience with chickens, except for my one buff, that I got in july they said she was about three months old, and I thought she would NEVER lay. but she finally gave me her first egg two days before xmas. does that help. with the age question. also I watched her the other day she layed late in the afternoon around 2 or 3pm and never made a sound. maybe its just her, since I have never had any I don't really know whats normal or what to expect, except what I read at this site, and this site really teaches me that they all are a bit different.

CI