Neat box aversion

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GOTchickens1978

GOTchickens1978

In the Brooder
Dec 27, 2016
39
5
19
So my Barred rocks just started laying last week. Now that they're more of a steady schedule, Khaleesi, the first pullet to lay in the morning has developed a bad habit of taking the dummy eggs out of the egg boxes and making her own nest on the coop floor/bedding. Then the other girls see where she has laid her egg (plus the 2 fakes) and follow suit. What the heck! I have block a couple of spots of the coop already and move the fake eggs back in the boxes the last couple of days but she keeps taken them out! What else can I do?
 
400


The other girls were using the boxes just fine before...
 
GOTchickens1978 said:


The other girls were using the boxes just fine before...
Click to expand...

Your nest box looks a little difficult for a LF bird to squeeze into and get settled which may be why she is putting the eggs out of the nest and into a place more easily accessible. Squeezy little nest boxes don't go well with big gals like the one in the pic...they need more room to get comfy while laying an egg. I'd remove those pans and put the bedding right in the nest box itself, remove any fake eggs...you don't need them now...and see what happens.
 
The nest boxes are actually 1ft x 1ft x 1ft. I have it elevated so the poopy bedding doesn't get in. The pans are there for easy clean up...

However, I am willing to try and make adjustments you suggested.

Thank you.
 
I agree it looks tight, space wise. They like cozy, but there's not much height there to get in and out, and they do need to raise up some when they actually push the egg out.

I'd pull the pans for now, although I agree with you on the ease of cleaning. I'd also pull the fake eggs, seems they may just be creating confusion. See what happens for a few days.

And maybe a little less bedding, to give the birds more height available.
 
So the other 2 pullets are using the nest boxes just fine. I did remove the fake eggs and more bedding. We'll what happens tomorrow.
 
It's merely Pullet Pandemonium...tho I agree those nests look tight, but if they get used to them no need to change them I guess.
 

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