I live in the midwest and got my first chicks this spring. They will be 22 weeks old next week and, so far, not laying. I'm told that they should start laying pullet eggs anytime now, but I'm afraid they won't lay them in the hen house nests but under the bushes somewhere. I have 10 21 week-old chicks, 1 rooster, and 2 older hens that I received as a gift about 2 months ago. They laid a few eggs at first and none since then, at least none that I've found. All hens appear to be very healthy and the younger ones are very friendly and unafraid of us. Any hints will be appreciated. I'm thinking maybe I should keep them in the coop til afternoon now. They currently free range all day from early morning until dusk. Thanks alot

-- Mary Petersen (mpete05@aol.com), October 11, 2001

Answers

Feed them in the house where the nests are and make sure they have nice clean nests and nature will take care of the rest.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), October 11, 2001.

I find that if you put a 'nest egg' in the nest, the hens will lay there. I had a hen that didn't lay, so I found a ceramic egg and put it in the nest box. Next day, sure enough, she had layed. I keep them in the boxes now. Also saves me the time to decide which egg is real. Lots of luck!

-- Bear (Barelyknow@aol.com), October 11, 2001.

Old golfballs work as nest eggs. Let us know what happens.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), October 11, 2001.

Your tuition is right that you just need to start keeping them in, probably until early afternoon, until after they start laying, and then for a few more weeks. If they are in the coop, they will usually lay in the nests you provide, and once they get in the habit of doing that(over a period of several weeks), then you can let them out earlier and they will still return to lay.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), October 11, 2001.

Yes, those golf balls work great. The first egg I found in the nest box was laid right next to a Titleist. They'll lay next to Nikes too. If your hen gets broody and you don't want to encourage her, remember to remove those golf balls. I keep food and water by the coop which helps too.

-- Barb (rosemontfarm1@aol.com), October 12, 2001.

I keep one white golf ball in each nest and have a feeder inside the coop that is kept full of laying pellets. I usually don't have a problem. I guess they know if they lay an egg they will have more room for food.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), October 12, 2001.

Always keep your hens in there yard / coop until after there morning feed. I usualy wait for 2 hours after feed to let them out. It just seems like they lay after they eat.

-- Anita Sciscoe (sciscoeinc@earthlink.net), April 13, 2002.