chickens laying on the floor

[gmc]

What are you using for litter in the boxes? If your not using hay, believe I'd try it. My ladies demand hay, anything else and they go on strike.

hay will draw them to the boxes.

gmc

 

[fallenweeble]

tell them that they MUST stay out of the nesting boxes, that they CANNOT, for ANY reason go into them and then go fuss over the boxes each time you are in the coop. go an look into them and coo and laugh and make a big deal over them but keep insisting to the hens that the boxes are yours and that they simply cannot use them.
i bet a little reverse psychology will get them interested in no time!
at the very least you will entertain them with your silly human antics!

 

[lilshadow]

Quote:
I am using wood shavings, I do have some straw should I use that instead?

 

[kelyeliot]

My 3 hens started out laying in the boxes, but now one keeps laying on the floor. I am thinking that it just falls out. They will keep going to the nesting boxes, but I'll still find one on the floor. Unfortunately one of the eggs gets broken almost everyday. I think it is accidental. They are driving me crazy!!!!!! I did finally put a new nesting box on the floor. A rubbermaid container with a lid. I cut a hole in the longest side. The hens love it. The one that lays on the floor scoped it out, but I don't think she used it yet. Good luck to you.

 

[Windy Ridge]

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[gmc]

Try the straw and see how it works. Mine simply loves the hay and will eat it, scratch around in it, kick some of it out and finally make a nice little round nest with it. Same process everytime I put new hay in. I tried litter, just didn't work for me. The ladies were carring picket signs marching around the coop. It was ugly.

gmc

 

[kelyeliot]

Quote:
Thanks!!! I'll give that a whirl. Darn Chickens ate one egg today. I lose one a day!!!!! Frustrating!

 

[lilshadow]

I just put straw in my boxes so we will se how that goes for the girls. I am hoping that it works. They did seem to be very curious when I finished putting it in. Even Tuck (my roo) looked like he was gonna jump in there....lol

 

[chickbea]

Quote:

I agree - for my girls, most of the fun of laying an egg is the fussing around with the hay in the nest. Even once they are settled down they will still rearrange the bits of hay around them and coo with utter delight.

 

[gmc]

Quote:
Thanks!!! I'll give that a whirl. Darn Chickens ate one egg today. I lose one a day!!!!! Frustrating!

One other thing to consider, and I'm speaking from my very new experience with what I thought was egg eaters, there needs to be a soft landing in the bottom of the nests.

One of the members on this forum put me wise to hens’ only eating eggs that are broken when laid. There could very well be hens that seek out eggs to eat, but l solved my problem with lining my nests with cardboard. Regardless of the type litter that you use, a hen will scratch till they find bottom. A hard surface makes for cracked eggs. I went from a couple remains of eggshells in the nest with 3 or 4 cracked to zero (just my experience). I am not saying that cardboard is the only thing to use, just all I had at the time. You may have a better idea but some hens will stand up in the nest right before they lay. I hope the straw works, but I still think hay is the ticket. Let us know how it turns out.