Laying away

Hi there! This is my first post but have been reading for the last 2 months since I started chicken keeping. So pleased to have found such a helpful forum.

Anyway, I have had Bob and Dave now for 3 months - both Amber Stars and Dora and Kiev for a month - think they are some kind of ranger. Bob has been giving me eggs everyday for about a month but I had found nothing from her in the nestbox for the last few days. Dora has been laying every other day or so for a couple of weeks but nothing in the nestbox for a couple of days either.

Yesterday afternoon when I went to give them a bit of corn, I couldn't find Bob. Eventually found her hiding in the corner of the garden behind a bush! When she eventually moved I found a stash of eggs! I gather this is called "laying away". I gathered all the eggs and thought that might be the end of it, but this morning I found another. It's not too much of a problem as I have found them, but is it ok for her to be laying there and not in thenestbox? Should I try and make her lay in the nestbox? If so, how?

Thanks, J xx

Hello JudyLou, welcome welcome. There is very little you can do if your hen is laying out/laying away. You can of course just keep collecting from that place and not mind, you could put a dummy egg there and in the egg boxes to encourage them to lay in the egg boxes or the hiding place. As metioned by bantam novice she may well find another secret place so really all you can do is keep vigilant. I have a few of my 40 free range hens do this. I do have a few regular places to look but I'm also quite sure there are several undiscovered clutches in the hedgerow from over the years. I try to be pragmatic and work on the basis that my hens are my almost pets that happen to give me a wonderful gift in retun for their care and if I can't find the gifts that's my look out! Happy hen keeping.

Thank you so much for all your help, I appreciate the advice and the reassurance. It's nice to have found people with more knowledge and experience - my friends and family think I'm mad!

Thankfully Dora has gone back to laying in the nestbox. None if them seem interested in sitting on the eggs, so hopefully no broodys.

While I'm here I have another little question - one of my chooks seems to have an "underbite" - it's almost as though someone has nipped a small bit of her beak off. Is this normal? She seems to be eating and drinking well. Will it grow back? Would the breeder have done this, could she have been born like this or could it happen by accident? Thanks everyone xx

Thank you so much for all your help, I appreciate the advice and the reassurance. It's nice to have found people with more knowledge and experience - my friends and family think I'm mad!

Thankfully Dora has gone back to laying in the nestbox. None if them seem interested in sitting on the eggs, so hopefully no broodys.

While I'm here I have another little question - one of my chooks seems to have an "underbite" - it's almost as though someone has nipped a small bit of her beak off. Is this normal? She seems to be eating and drinking well. Will it grow back? Would the breeder have done this, could she have been born like this or could it happen by accident? Thanks everyone xx

Not sure where you got your hens from, but battery hens are often "de-beaked" where a portion is clipped off to prevent them pecking each other as they are kept in such intensive conditions. Could this be part of your bird's history? Also I have read that some breeders do it to persistent and vicious peckers to protect their other birds. I'm not sure but I don't think it grows back.