Advice needed, hens won't lay in nest box

[hitgsd]

I have 6 red sex linked pullets who are 18 weeks old. They started laying 2 weeks ago. So far we average 5 eggs a day. The problem is that they are laying them in a hole they dug instead of the coop. The frist 4 eggs where in the coop then well they found a spot they preferred. I put golf balls in the nestboxes and the next morning it looked like they had played a round of golf, the balls where scattered around. I put the golfballs back and they have not moved again. Tried keeping them locked in the coop, but i felt awful after a few hours because the coop gets so hot (this was from 9am to about 2pm) it is 100 degrees. Should I just be glad they all lay in the same hole, and that I can easily get the eggs from it? Or should I just buck up and keep them locked up for a few days despite the heat? Any suggestons would be helpfull.

 

[forbiddengarden]

If you don't mind going out to the hole what they're doing should be fine. I wouldn't put them in the coop. In the winter they will probably move their egg-laying indoors and create a habit of it for years to come.

 

[Poppafrog]

If its that hot in the coop you might want to add some ventaltion or some fans.

 

[hitgsd]

The coop has one window, that came from our house so it is big, that has fenceing on the inside so we can open it and nothing can get in. This window makes up one whole side of the coop. Also the eves are wire fenceing. So there is plenty of ventilation, but this is Houston and it is just plain hot and humid. I guese I could rig a fan over the outside of the window.

 

[CowgirlPenny]

One of mine kept trying to lay in a little nest she made in the corner of the coop, right under the roost bar! Needless to say I did not want her laying there around the poo.

I tried spray painted egg looking rocks, golfballs and more. She kept laying in the coop.

The next day I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 5 (I have 5 nestboxes) fake eggs, all light brown. I put an egg in each nestbox and ever since she's laid in the box RIGHT beside the fake egg. The second day we had the eggs someone else laid too. Seems to be working.