C'mon girls - Lay in the nest boxes !

[J Fox]

Ok so here is the story - we ordered 6 hens last winter and this spring we received the exact breed and sex for all six. Healthy beautiful birds. (Meyer Hatchery) 2 brown egg, Plymouth Rock and Buff Orpington, 2 white egg, brown and white leghorns, and two blue egg layers, Easter Eggers.
Well the egg laying has begun with the brown eggs coming first, then the whites came, still waiting on the blues.
Now here it comes... We have three nest boxes that are the Little Giant plastic models that our previous flock of RIR laid in perfectly. Winnie the Buff is laying in the nest, Michelle our Plymouth Rock won’t. She lays in the corner of house in the pine shavings. One of the Leghorns lays in the box, (Amy Farrah Fowler) the other just started, and she is leaving them all over on floor and today chose Michelle's exact spot. I have straw in nest boxes - pine shavings on floor of house.
Tomorrow I plan to give the house a good cleaning and was considering leaving the floor close to bare and putting a milk crate or something in the chosen corner. Also plan to replace straw in nest with pine shavings to see how that would work.
So, what does the group here think ? Am I on the right track or is there so thing I’m missing. Also what are the thoughts on when this first blue egg arrives ?
Thank you all in advance for the advice. I feel the longer this goes on the harder it may be to stop?

 

[TwoCrows]

I've had trouble with some birds laying eggs in the run. It just takes some of them time to not only figure out where to lay them but to even be able to sense when an egg is ready to be laid!

Make sure your nest boxes are sparking clean, at an excessable height, have enough boxes so there is no competition and leave some fake eggs in the boxes at all times. Hens like to lay their egg where another hen has laid hers. Hens are vulnerable when laying, so if the previous hen survived laying hers there, so will the next. If you find an egg in the run, remove it as soon as possible so that the next hen doesnt follow. The fake eggs in the boxes will give them security in laying there. Even some curtains over the front of the boxes makes them more appealing. Show this particular hen the boxes with eggs in them, heck, if you suspect she is about to lay, stuff her in one of the boxes!

Good luck!

 

[HuffleClaw]

Agreed with @TwoCrows

 

[Col1948]

You could try putting a cardboard nest box in the corner where one of them lay and even put a fake egg in, she may get the idea to use a nest box then keep moving it bit by bit till it's next to the other nests.

I presume you've used the fake egg idea but it might work with the one laying eggs on the floor too.

 

[RWise]

I use fake eggs (golf balls) in all active nests, and a few that are not. I also have a ceramic egg that is black with gold trim, any nest I have put it in never gets used again,,,
Good luck!

 

[Shadrach]

View attachment 1552601 Ok so here is the story - we ordered 6 hens last winter and this spring we received the exact breed and sex for all six. Healthy beautiful birds. (Meyer Hatchery) 2 brown egg, Plymouth Rock and Buff Orpington, 2 white egg, brown and white leghorns, and two blue egg layers, Easter Eggers.
Well the egg laying has begun with the brown eggs coming first, then the whites came, still waiting on the blues.
Now here it comes... We have three nest boxes that are the Little Giant plastic models that our previous flock of RIR laid in perfectly. Winnie the Buff is laying in the nest, Michelle our Plymouth Rock won’t. She lays in the corner of house in the pine shavings. One of the Leghorns lays in the box, (Amy Farrah Fowler) the other just started, and she is leaving them all over on floor and today chose Michelle's exact spot. I have straw in nest boxes - pine shavings on floor of house.
Tomorrow I plan to give the house a good cleaning and was considering leaving the floor close to bare and putting a milk crate or something in the chosen corner. Also plan to replace straw in nest with pine shavings to see how that would work.
So, what does the group here think ? Am I on the right track or is there so thing I’m missing. Also what are the thoughts on when this first blue egg arrives ?
Thank you all in advance for the advice. I feel the longer this goes on the harder it may be to stop?

You can get a hen to lay her eggs in just about anything; they are extraordinarily adaptable in this respect.
If you want less egg breakages and happier hens then this article may be of interest.
It should give you some ideas as to what makes a more suitable nest box in the hens eyes.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...e-make-a-sitting-hens-job-so-difficult.74389/

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

I have this same issue with mine. They have wonderfully comfortable nesting boxes but only 3 or 4 lay in them. They prefer the corner underneath the boxes. Ive tried golf balls and even placing them in the boxes but they still prefer the corner

 

[aart]

Tomorrow I plan to give the house a good cleaning and was considering leaving the floor close to bare and putting a milk crate or something in the chosen corner. Also plan to replace straw in nest with pine shavings to see how that would work.
So, what does the group here think ? Am I on the right track or is there so thing I’m missing. Also what are the thoughts on when this first blue egg arrives ?
Thank you all in advance for the advice. I feel the longer this goes on the harder it may be to stop?

Any changes my just throw off the ones who are laying in the nests.
I'd just leave things as they are for now and employ a bit of 'manipulation'.

Make sure nests are easily accessible, sometimes those LG nest perches are not substantial enough for easy navigation...folks have added a board across them for improvement.

Put a bucket, or something to block access, in the place on the floor they are laying.
Fake egg in nests will show them where to lay 'safely'.

Be patient, it takes time for new layers to figure things out, especially if there are no older layers around to learn from.
Not sure how old your birds are in weeks, but only 2 of the birds in the pics above look ready to lay by comb color.

Here's some tips on how to tell...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

 

[J Fox]

Ok so wanted to update this thread. I did add to the perch with a solid piece wood - I put a bucket in the corner where the Barred Rock was laying. She then started laying under the nest boxes. Then I put a few old boxes under nest boxes one a week to scoot her down so she’d lay closer to back door. It worked. I’ve since removed the bucket - all the others are laying in the nests now so all is well. Or good enough !

 

[J Fox]