How to Find Where Your Hen Lays Eggs

Following Your Hens

Get up early in the morning to watch your hens. Hens most often lay early in the morning, so if you're going to catch one the act, you'll need to beat it to the punch. Try getting up before sunrise to observe your hens' behavior. Keep in mind, some hens will lay in the afternoon, too, so you may need to observe your hens throughout the day.

Watch for restlessness and other egg-laying behavior. Hens tend to get restless when they're about to lay an egg. They'll start actively looking around for a nest at this point, as they feel the egg coming on. Watch your hens for this behavior. Your hens may seem extra cranky, too.

Listen for loud cackling. Often, a hen will let off a loud cackle when she's laid an egg. You may be able to follow the sound of the cackling to find the egg or eggs she's laid away from the main nesting box. Hens will often start cackling early in the morning to indicate they're laying eggs.

Keep an eye on where your hens go. Watch any hens that leave the coop and nesting area. Observe where they go so you can search for their nests later. Try following at a distance so as not to alarm your hen. While it's time-consuming to keep an eye on your chickens, it's one of the sure-fire ways to find a nest.

Thinking Like a Chicken

Look under bushes and logs. Chickens like a secure nesting area, and often, areas underneath things like bushes can look appealing. Get down on a chicken's level and look around. You may find some eggs! You may also find them at the base of trees or nestled down in the grass.

Check in warm, semi-indoor areas. If you have places in your yard like a barn or a shed that have openings for your hens to get in, check in there for eggs. Your hen may decide a hayloft or a manger is a great place to lay, especially since it's out of the elements! Make sure to look in all the hidden holes you can find in these buildings!

Search high and low in places you might not expect. Hens aren't particularly rational about where they lay their eggs. While they typically pick a shaded area for protection, yours might decide to lay on top of a freezer or in a tractor seat. It really depends on the chicken! So make sure to search the area from all angles, as you never know where you'll find eggs. Some may even lay eggs in the middle of the yard. If you have kids, get them to help you look! They can spot things down low you might not see.

Walk along the fence line. Chickens often like to lay eggs next to a barrier or in a corner, so check your fence line for hidden nests. You may find one in a far back corner, for instance. The same is true around your house. Walk around the outside of your house to see if your chickens have laid eggs around the border.

Make sure the eggs aren't in the coop. Have a good look inside your chicken coop, including the run and under the housing, as your chickens may have laid their eggs in the coop but not in the nesting area. You may find them in corners, in the roosting area, or even in the middle of the floor.

Encouraging a Hen to Use the Nest

Position your nests in a lower area than your roosting area. Hens need separate areas for roosting and nesting. If they roost in an area, they may not lay there. Since they prefer higher areas for roosting, make sure that the nests are lower to the ground. However, try not to put nests directly below roosting areas, as you'll end up with feces all over your eggs.

Clean the nesting area out at least once a week. It may be tempting to just to add more pine shavings to the top of the nest. However, it's best to sweep out all of the litter and scrub down the nesting area if it has a layer of feces. Then, add fresh litter back to the area. A clean nest will encourage your chickens to use it. Try using dish soap and warm water if you need to scrub down the coop.

Ensure you have enough nests for your hens. You don't need 1 nest per hen, as hens will use the same nest. Make sure to have at least 1 nesting spot for every 4 hens or so and at least 2 if you just have 5 or 6 hens. Nesting spots are the individual cubbyholes where chickens lay their eggs.

Use pine shavings instead of hay for nesting material. You need nesting material to encourage your chickens to lay there. However, hay can harbor bacteria and parasites, and it is more likely to stay damp. Instead, use pine shavings, which is equally cheap but more hygienic overall. You can find pine shavings at most tractor supply stores.

Place golf balls or fake eggs in the nest. Most hens will lay in places where there are already eggs. You can fake out a chicken by using egg replacements. When the chicken sees these fake eggs, she'll lay in the nest, too. Try wooden eggs, for instance.

Move real eggs to the nest. If you find eggs outside the nest, you can just pick them up and put them in the nest. That will encourage the hens to lay in that area instead of elsewhere. Mark the egg with a permanent marker, making an "X." That way, you can leave it there for a few days without picking up a rotten egg to take inside. Just gather the other eggs around it. Eggs don't go "bad" for quite awhile, as hens may need up to 2 weeks to create a clutch of eggs to sit on and hatch. However, if bacteria has gotten into the eggs, they can go bad much faster.

Close your hens in the coop for a few days. If several of your hens are laying elsewhere, simply shutting them in the coop may solve the problem. They'll have to lay inside, and once they get in the habit, they may not wander off to find new nesting places again. You may not want to do this when it gets too hot outside, such as when it gets 90 °F (32 °C) or above, as it may get too warm for your hens.

Place a nest where your hen is laying and move it towards the coop. If your hen is laying close by, set up a nest for her. Almost anything will work for a nest, such as a bucket on its side, a plastic bin, or a pet carrier, as long as you place some nesting material in the bottom. If your hen lays in it, slowly move it towards the coop each day. Once you get to the coop, you should be able to encourage your hen to lay inside the coop in the nesting area.