Are nest boxes too small?

[chickenannie]

My Buff Orps are too big for standard size 12 x 12 nests. I ordered the 14 x 14 size which they like. Also, my Red Bourbon turkey even squeezes herself in there at times (her tail sticks out the back).
I think a big bird needs a larger nest.

 

[brandywine]

Well, I'm up to about 8 out of 15 of my pullets laying now. Apparently it's what all the COOL KIDS are doing.

Maybe two of them are using the nest boxes. including the big Delaware. Otherwise I'm finding eggs on the ground.

At what point do I offer them some other kind of nest? It has been two weeks since laying started.

Should I try putting them in nest boxes when I find them nesting on the ground?

 

[Opa]

I don't think that I would put the eggs in the nest. They will just get dirty or broken. I did have 5 floor layers, I'm down to 1 now. I guess eventually they learn where they are supposed to lay. I know I didn't do anything other than provide nest boxes.

 

[digitS']

Okay, Opa . . . who is that Gary Cooper look-alike??!

Get those golf balls & fake eggs in the boxes, Brandywine. Whenever you get a chance, push a pullet in there on top of them.

The nest that's been used the last few years in my coop is 18 inches above the floor. It seems to take them quite awhile to realize that it's there for the purpose of laying eggs.

It is a good thing to have 1 or 2 of your birds using the nestboxes and they should encourage the others to "follow suite."

Any nest they build on the ground should be messed up. If there's a location that is just too inviting but inappropriate, maybe you can put something there so they can't get to it for awhile. I've used a roll of chicken wire crammed into a favorite spot like that. After awhile, they find a better place (nestbox) and lose interest in the wrong spot.

Steve

 

[Opa]

That's Sam in The Ranger, The Cook, and the Hole In The Sky

 

[chickensandmore]

Well I now have another new box or should I say Barrel, I am now using a 55 gal drum cut long ways with legs.. It's about 15 inches to the edge at the top, I placed some hay in it..
and the girls are just loving it..
Who would have guessed

Don