Hens won't lay in any other nesting box!!!

[jackie8907]

I dont know what to do...i have 4 barred rock hens and all 4 fight over this one particular nesting box! I watched one hen literally get under another hen and kick her out of it this morning! They have 5 other boxes to choose from so why do they all seem to favor this one in particular!?

 

[Saris]

You could try planting an egg (real or fake) in another nest box to make it seem appealing.

 

[jackie8907]

I had fake eggs in all the boxes at one point and they kept knocking them out and breaking them open so i was afraid to keep them in there and let them get in the habit of pecking eggs?

 

[aart]

What kind of fake eggs? Breaking them open?

I have a few of the hard, heavy, solid fake eggs and some golf balls that I leave in the nests all the time,
sometimes I switch them up to see if it effects which nest they lay in.

The fronts of your nests 3-4" high to help things from being kicked/scratched out of the nests?
Have they just started laying? They seems to mess with the nests more at first, then less as they get older.

 

[shell shocked]

hi yer
try blocking it off if they can not get in they will have to use another nest box its common for
hens to pile into the same nest box it will be nice and warm is it darker than the others put a 3 to 4 inch lip to stop stuff being thrown out i had a hard rubber egg i put in at first but took it out when
a couple started to lay i hope this has been helpful all the luck in the world

 

[shell shocked]

hi yer
try blocking it off if they can not get in they will have to use another nest box its common for
hens to pile into the same nest box it will be nice and warm is it darker than the others put a 3 to 4 inch lip to stop stuff being thrown out i had a hard rubber egg i put in at first but took it out when
a couple started to lay i hope this has been helpful all the luck in the world

the two most important days in your life are the day you are born

and the day you find out why

 

[jackie8907]

Thank you forbthe replies! I'm not sure how high the edges are on te boxea I'll have to look and see, i was using fake easter eggs so they were pretty easy for them to kick out and break open and yes they are all just starting out laying, only been laying for a month or so! We're in the process of building another coop inside our barn for winter time because right now we just have a small pre-built coop (which has 6 nesting boxes and a small inside area) and it's inside a dog kennel because they've never roosted inside the coop always roosted on top of it because I'm guessing it's too small for them so with the temp getting lower i know they're going to need a warmer place to roost so hopefully when we move their coop into the barn they will decide to lay in more than one of the boxes...i will try blocking it off if it doesnt work! Thanks again everyone!