Could not enough nesting boxes cause flock issues?

[neo71665]

Yes, I’ve heard you shouldn’t microwave eggs to cook them!

 

[Skyviewcottage]

My girls like to lay in a single nesting box, and most of the time they don't even lay in the box. They prefer to go make nests in the bushes, and then make me go search for them

Yeah, what do you do about that? I have 4 hens and 4 nesting boxes. They all want the same nesting box. Now one of them has laid an egg in an inconvenient place and hard for me to get at it and they all are doing it in the same place in the yard. I want to change the behavior and get them all to go back to the coop after they have been let out in the morning. How do I do it?

 

[neo71665]

Yeah, what do you do about that? I have 4 hens and 4 nesting boxes. They all want the same nesting box. Now one of them has laid an egg in an inconvenient place and hard for me to get at it and they all are doing it in the same place in the yard. I want to change the behavior and get them all to go back to the coop after they have been let out in the morning. How do I do it?

Retrain time, stop free ranging until they are laying in the boxes again.

 

[Chapel Oak Farms]

If your hen is being injured by the aggressor you should definitely separate them for a little while. The pecking order process can be brutal and, although it's natural, injury shouldn't be a part of the process. We had a cockerel who injured some of our older hens while trying to mate them and he actually killed a couple of them. He is now in a chicken tractor. The hens are all very happy now. Incidentally, any stress can also affect their egg-laying.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yeah, what do you do about that? I have 4 hens and 4 nesting boxes. They all want the same nesting box. Now one of them has laid an egg in an inconvenient place and hard for me to get at it and they all are doing it in the same place in the yard. I want to change the behavior and get them all to go back to the coop after they have been let out in the morning. How do I do it?

Yes, retrain them. Hopefully you have enough room that you can lock them in the coop only or a coop/run long enough to do that or at least until they have all laid for the day. Some of mine lay pretty late in the day sometimes.

I don't know how long it will take to retrain yours, each hen is different. One week might be enough, it might not. I'd make sure all eggs are gone from that outside nest.

At least you found that nest so you know what your problem is. This type of thing is a common problem when people think their hens have stopped laying.

Good luck, this can be frustrating.

 

[Double Yolked]

Yes and no. I had 8 hens in one backyard flock. Only two nest boxes near the coop, a couple out further. They never, ever used but one nest box. A few squabbles over who got to lay first but other than that no problems. I'd often find two hens laying at the same time. And I'd check all nest boxes daily but, only the one favorite nest box was used. While it's really important to have options available, once they settle on a favorite box or two they don't switch up that often.
I won't say never switch, this last little flock of mine has decided that behind a bale of hay in the shed is far better than any nest box and there is no changing their minds! So I gather my eggs out of the open shed.
I'd be more inclined to think you have other problems you aren't aware of.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Yeah, what do you do about that? I have 4 hens and 4 nesting boxes. They all want the same nesting box. Now one of them has laid an egg in an inconvenient place and hard for me to get at it and they all are doing it in the same place in the yard. I want to change the behavior and get them all to go back to the coop after they have been let out in the morning. How do I do it?

I don't let my ladies out until everyone has laid

 

[TropicalBabies]

@TropicalBabies

Love the table and swing idea!!! My gears are grinding!!!

So I love that vintage shabby chic kinda look. We have a old 1906 house so I wanted the coop etc to match. And I just thought of the greatest thing!!!

A old pot belly stove! And how funny would it be to have a area with a nest in the run -inside- the wood stove door?!?! It would be something to crawl under, jump on top of and lay eggs inside???

I found one on Facebook market place about a hr away.

Just wondering how this all went? Did you pick up that cute stove?

 

[Bill752]

Discarded... microwaves?

Yes, one doesn't have a door that has to propped open like the other 2 & they all have a board for a threshold to keep the straw in. We used concrete blocks to gain height & a 2x6 plank to set them on. This year we have one on the ground & another on top of it & both are being used-those are for the White Rocks in a pen to keep them pure, 6 of the metal nests are for the black Giants in the chicken pen, & the other 6 nests are on the pasture side of the fence because of what my wife said last year when my ducklings arrived. "They all look the same." That's because they're all Cayuga, great for meat & eggs. We have 3-4 different breeds of chickens in the pasture with a rose comb rooster & they're there so that all of the chickens won't look the same. Once I'm done playing around to have next year's layers then we'll let them all run together again, but currently they need to double up on production to meet demand & they're refusing claiming it'd be going against nature. I'd order some Leghorn pullets to help with the supply but we only have the 2 dog houses, one for our dog, one for a setting hen, & both claim that there isn't enough room for me.

 

[Bill752]

Just don't turn them on!

I would advise against leaving the electrical cord connected, disconnect it & install a female end & you have a small, but cheap extension cord.