Australorp laying outside nest boxes

[jennieclaire]

Hello BYC ers!!
So we have had an incredibly fulfilling, amusing, and ever so tasty chicken raising experience so far- our flock of seven ladies ( 2 Australorps, 3 Buff Orps, 2 Blue Orps) will be 1 yr old in April. They began laying prodigiously late last fall, and we have had really no problems to speak of (knock on wood). Everyone is happy, healthy and making great compost.
About a week ago I noticed that one of the Australorp ladies had taken to laying in the corner of the coop, rather than in the nest boxes as she always had previously. It is really more of an inconvenience than anything else (the coop is pretty clean, and the eggs are not overly dirty) but her new laying procedure means we have to get up into the coop to remove them.
Is there anything anyone would recommend in terms of deterring her from doing so, or perhaps something we are doing wrong that would cause her to do so? We have two nest boxes for the seven ladies, and otherwise they tend to use both throughout the day, no problem.
I just don't want all the ladies to take her cue and start laying in the coop willy nilly.

Thanks again for all the info and support you constantly provide!!

J

 

[chicklover 1998]

leave golf balls in the nests, I had one of my RIR that insisted on laying while on the roost middle of the day she would get up there lay the egg and jump back down, they never broke because I had a thick layer of pine shavings but last week she decided it would be a good time to lay to start laying in the nest boxes.

 

[jennieclaire]

@chicklover1998 Thank you!!! I will try it!!

 

[chicklover 1998]

Yep no problem, sometimes they just like to be a pain, that is why I'm building my next coop with the height for me to be able to walk into, I'm not tall but some are pretty hard to get into.