Chickens sleep in egg boxes

[swmalone]

I have 3 16 week old pullets, well at least I hope they are all pullets. I have a small chicken tractor with egg boxes at each end. There is a roost pole running down the middle, but it seems that they like to all crowd together into one of the egg boxes. I think I should be getting close to having eggs and I would like to get them to actually lay the eggs in the egg box for ease of retrieval. Any ideas? And here is a picture of my coop to help with the visual.
[

 

[swmalone]

Sorry dropped in the wrong photo, a little too much sun today I think.

 

[ThinkingChickens]

You could put a golf ball or wooden egg in the nest box. To get them to roost you could wait until they are asleep and manually put them on the roost at night. Chances are though they'll figure it out on their own.

 

[mtnhens4]

Is there a way to close off the nest boxes for a week or two so that they get into the habbit of roosting before the nest boxes are actually needed? Just a thought

 

[swmalone]

I just added a golf ball last night and they just rustle around in there so much it ends up buried. Right now the egg box has shredded paper and the rest of the coop has pine shavings. I have had it all pine shavings and that didn't seem to make a difference. I know that they do go onto the roost at times, but it just seems they like to play in the egg box. I could try to put a piece of cardboard or something in there, but I think that the buff orpington that I put up in my first head induced pictures is getting close to laying. The thing is I am worried it has become habit and it will be hard to break because they have been doing this for weeks. I could kind of understand it when we first put them out it was getting chilly, but now it has been getting into the 90s and they still go up there and do it even during the day at times.

I guess if all else fails it will be an egg hunt in the coop, it is small enough but that would require me to take a side off as opposed to opening an egg door. If I seal off the egg boxes for a while how long do you suggest I do this?

 

[Jferlisi]

I would seal them off for a week or two and try that. Also take out the paper in the boxes. It makes a mess it would absorb moisture like the shavings will so they get all slimy and nasty.If you want you can mix shavings in there with it but i wouldn't use paper alone in there.

 

[swmalone]

The only reason I did paper was that I was hoping to differentiate between the nest box area and the rest of the coop. I will get rid of it, it makes a mess anyways. Is there something else I could use or should I just put pine shavings in there? I will try to come up with some way to see that area and hopefully that does the trick. Thanks.

 

[Jferlisi]

Ya just dont put it that thick down at first so they can see the fake egg or what ever it is you put in there. When they start to know they dont sleep in there you can put more in there, cause right now they are playing in the boxes thats why it got covered before.

 

[BoltonChicken]

Block off the nesting areas until they are a couple of weeks older. Get them to roost now. After 18 weeks of age take out the blocks.

 

[swmalone]

I blocked the nest box and they are some unhappy chicks. I will keep it blocked and then in a couple of weeks unblock it and put in a smaller amount of materials so that the golf ball is visible. Thanks for all the suggestions.