Victoria has beaten us again... how to get them in the nesting box

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BigRedNZ

BigRedNZ

In the Brooder
8 Years
Jul 19, 2011
69
2
43
Hello,

I've done a lot of reading and tried it all... now I'm stuck.

We've got 6 young pullets, one is POL. And has been a good girl laying an egg everyday now for 2-3 weeks. But Victoria will never lay in the nesting box. Instead she chooses the floor in the shavings.

It's nice purpose built nest box. Its raised, but not as high as the perches and its got fresh bedding.

There's an access perch too.

But she insists on laying in the floor.

Next we put flower pots and buckets in her various spots. And bugger me, she lay an egg on top of an upturned flower pot!

Any other suggestions, almost ready to take out all the flooring for a wee while.
 
Thanks flewdcoop, we've got fake eggs already in, but clearly they don't get the message.

I'm going to dig out all the DLM sawdust leaving a hard floor and hopefully that will be enough. I'll find out in a few days. The nesting boxes are posh with lots of nice straw, fake eggs, cover and access.
 
flewdcoop said:
Just a shot in the dark here but, since she lays in the sawdust could it help if you took out the straw and replaced it with the sawdust?
Click to expand...
This is a good idea.

Or, why not let her lay where she wants? Is there really a problem? When I have a hen determined to lay in a corner, I set up a nest box there. I use plastic totes or large black tree pots, things like that. Bed it nicely and put it in the favored spot. I can pull the entire box out to collect the eggs, or clean the box.

As long as I can reach the eggs, and they don't get broken, I don't care where they lay.
 
donrae said:
As long as I can reach the eggs, and they don't get broken, I don't care where they lay.
Click to expand...
I agree - my hens decided to lay in the new bedding I put down, instead of the nest boxes (which they had used for more than a year). Its just as easy for me to collect them, so i don't sweat it.

CT
 
The only problem is that our coop design means its a real stretch to reach the corners. And with DLM hens they tend to shift the sawdust around. This is normally good, but if you miss an egg it can get buried.

Also, I spent a lot of time making a "great" nesting box for my ladies.... and my pride is hurting.

Thanks for the sawdust tip, I'll try that. I took all the sawdust out of the DLM floor and she laid her egg on the hard ply floor! So try try try again.
 
Last edited:
I've had the same problem in the past. If you have the room try making a nest for the corner that is easy to pull out. I used a dollar store dish pan. Once she is using the nest box slowly start moving it toward the nest boxes over a couple of weeks. Once the other girls start laying in the boxes they will usually follow suite if you remove their nest.
 
My corners are hard to reach, also. That's why I put the totes in the corner, I can still reach the edge of the tote and slide it out from under the shelf, collect eggs and slide it back.
 

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