Where are they laying🤔

[Herdwick sheep]

Have just got some new pullets

We were getting 14 to 17 eggs previously and I know that some of the new ones are definitely laying but we are still only getting 17.

Just wondering . Would adding new ones stop the old ones from laying?
I don’t really like to leave them inside as the new ones invariably sit in the nesting boxes and we end up worse than ever with dirty boxes and less eggs as we are away all day and so can’t keep going in and moving them

Is there any way to find if they are laying away other than trying to follow them?
They literally go where they want. (Free range 30 acres to go at if they wanted )
Have followed a hen and thought we found a place then gone back for a look and nothing there


Kind of expecting the answer is no but just wondering if anyone else had done anything else with the same problem

Thanks

 

[yoki]

I think firstly in an ideal world you don't let them out until about midday or so as it makes it more likely they'll lay in the nest boxes.

But no, detective work is the only way to find out where else they're laying.

But it's seldom you find one egg somewhere else, you'll usually find a whole batch of them!

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Ours lay in quiet cozy places. Out of the way ‘till you or the dog finds them.
To encourage them to continue in these places we put in a couple of rubber eggs.
The favourite spot is in an upturned water trough in the corner of the tractor shed.
Sometimes there are nearly a dozen in there
Just keep a note on when you last visited but every third day isn’t a problem.
SS

 

[delilah]

Do you have any pig arks ? Try in there. We had a hen went walkabout undetected, first we knew of it was when she appeared with 16 chicks in tow, she had made a nest right at the back of an empty ark, all 16 still going strong now 8 weeks old.

 

[TexelBen]

Mine on with the same, neighbours just found a clutch getting destroyed by magpies this afternoon, in the brush at the side of the road bloody things.

I might try one of those remote door openers set to open at lunchtime (as others have mentioned on here)

 

[Jasper]

You have to wait until you lift your last bale down out of the barn and about 30 dozen will come showering down on the cab

 

[Princess Pooper]

Our old hen run was wire on 2 sides and a tall kitchen garden wall with a thick growth of ivy on the top. Several fruit trees in the run. Wings were clipped.

Spotted one climbing the sloping trunk of an old apple tree close to the wall one day and went up to investigate. In the thick ivy on top of the wall there were about 25 eggs.

 

[adamR143]

Hi I am a 1st year veterinary student from Edinburgh, looking for a pig farm placement in Hertfordshire. Ideally last 2 weeks of July. I have a colleague interested too. Any support with this much appreciated Thank you