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For a while now, our 5 rescued battery hens (known collectively as Flossies - I have no clue why, it just came to me one day) have been given free run of the garden. When they apparently stopped laying we scoured the hedges in search of eggs and found a couple of clutches. So we left one egg in each so they'd go back there, and put it down to a lesson well learnt.

But did they? Did they heck! They just found a couple of new sites in completely different areas that were, if anything, even harder to get to. So we're now fencing off the orchard and "restricting" them to there. It's about 60' x 60' so it's not like they're going to be cramped. Hopefully when they've got their new coop and new nest boxes they'll be happy to lay at home again instead of away. But since two of the sites have been in the orchard, I very much doubt it.

Anyone else had problems with devious hens laying away? And did you manage to solve it? We have rubber eggs where we'd like them to lay but is that enough?

Thanks folks
Lynne

Yes, this has happened to me many times .... the worst bit is coming across a nest of a dozen or so eggs many months later !
The problem I've found is if you let them run free and later restrict them, they spend all day trying to find ways to escape.

Whenever I knew there was a nest somewhere that I couldn't find, I would find some work to do in view of the chickens and watch for one to dodge off and see where she went .... also coming running when you hear one cackling to see where she came from.
Frustrating fun though isn't it ?