When I get new chicks, I keep them fenced in around the hen house until they're almost full grown. The hen house has nesting boxes. They get the idea to lay in the nesting boxes, and once they're full grown I let them free range. You do get the occasional hen who hides her eggs, but most of them go broody, so they often disappear for a few weeks, and then come back followed by a line of tiny chicks.