free range eggs.. how do i find them?

[sandyshore]

my 4 chickens have finally started to lay eggs, being around 4 months old.

there is however just one problem.. i cant find them! the chickens are completly free range and have over 2 acres of land and then the surrounding forest of pine and eucalyptus. i have found 2 nests which are reused each day but the other two i cant find at all.. where would be a good place to look? or how do i make the chickens lay an egg in a place i want?

one of the nests i only found when i spotted a large lizard trying to roll an egg away

[url=http://]www.casadossonhos.co.uk[/url]

[jampot]

i spotted a large lizard trying to roll an egg away

eek!!
i imagine your in AUZ or NZ
have the choocks got some nest boxes or huts where they can lay eggs? this may encourage them to sit in one place

[sandyshore]

no i am in portugal.. so the lizard wasnt as large perhaps as you might imagine.. but large enough for me!

www.casadossonhos.co.uk

[Thomzo]

My chooks don't free range but they have quite a large run. I gave them some nest boxes (just a wooden box with an open front) filled with shredded paper. They seem to know that's where they are to lay.

In the past I have encouraged them by putting a ceramic or wooden egg where you want them to lay. It seems to be a signal that the box is a safe place for eggs.

Although there are four boxes, the two girls lay in the same one so you might find your girls are sharing the nests.

Zoe

[theabsinthefairy]

If they are morning layers, sometimes keeping them in for an extra hour or two can 'teach' them to lay in the coop if you provide a couple of boxes in doors. Alternatively, you can temporarily fence them in, and provide a couple of nesting boxes in the shade, and once they get used to using those, when you let them free range again, they will come back to use the nesting boxes. Either that or get really good at following their tracks through the undergrowth to find the nests.

[MINESAPINT]

Whenever I get a couple of new chickens I shut them in their hut for a week. This way they realise it is home and find the nest box etc. When they need to lay they know where to go. I suppose you could try shutting them in for a while to see if it works as long as it is not too hot.

IMG_0100.JPG (43.38 KiB) Viewed 1867 times

[sandyshore]

thank you all

the chickens do seem to lay their eggs at 9am.. well at least the two eggs i find every day are laid by 9am, as to the others its anyones guess

they do have a lovely chicken shed and boxes filled with sheeps wool, so tomorrow morning they are staying in until 10am with collected eggs in the boxes to see if that encourages them to lay there

i will let you know the results