12 week old pullets

[Cluckingtime]

My pullets are 12 weeks. When would be a good time yo open the nesting boxes or should I just wait for an egg?

 

[Tookie]

My pullets are 12 weeks. When would be a good time yo open the nesting boxes or should I just wait for an egg?

What breed?

 

[sourland]

What breed are they?

 

[Cluckingtime]

What breed are they?

2 RIR 1 sapphire gem/blue rock 1 light brahma and 2 Barred rock

 

[Cluckingtime]

What breed?

2 RIR, 1 Light Brahma, 2 barred rock and one sapphire gem/blue rock

 

[sourland]

Looks like no super early layers there. I would wait until they are 16 weeks old unless some of them show excessive comb and wattle enlargement/brightening prior to that. Good luck on those first eggs.

 

[Tookie]

2 RIR, 1 Light Brahma, 2 barred rock and one sapphire gem/blue rock

The RIR will probably start laying around 18-20 weeks old. The Light Brahma will start laying at at least 6 months old. The BRs around 18-22 weeks old. The Sapphire Gems about 4-6 months old.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Personally I would open them now, to give them as much time as possible to explore and get used to the nests. As long as the birds are reliably roosting at night that should minimize the chances of them sleeping in the nests.

 

[3KillerBs]

If they've gotten used to perching on the roost at night you could open the nests now. The reason we close them off is to stop them developing the habit of sleeping there.

I've noticed that the pullets start exploring the boxes weeks before they actually lay.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Why are the nests closed? Were they sleeping in them? If they were sleeping in the nests we can chat about how to break them of that habit.

Are you afraid they might sleep in the nests? If the roosts are higher than the nests and you don't have older chickens in there to scare them off of the roosts it's unlikely they will sleep in the nests. If you had older hens the nests would be open anyway so they could lay in them.

Even if the nests are lower than the roosts it is possible they or some of them will sleep in the nests. Different things could cause that. If they are going to sleep in the nests I'd want to know that long before I started getting poopy eggs so I can fix it before they start to lay.
Unless you have a known problem I just don't see the benefit to blocking the nests. Ever. If you do have a known problem blocking the nests might be a tool to help you solve that problem.