Didn't use the nest.

[BDutch]

@David61
Are the nest boxes situated lower and at a more shady place as the poop board? Maybe add an overall picture?

Every hen is different and has a personal character. Other hens may act different, lay different, have other coloring before laying. Just wait and see.

You can add some hay in a nestbox. My hens like that. Probably this will trigger the hens to explore the nest boxes.

Just check in the evening after dark if no hens are sleeping in a nest if you are afraid of that.

Do you give layer feed now and crumbled shells for calcium on the side?

 

[aart]

Give it time.
Post pic of nests, please?

 

[GC-Raptor]

Agree with others about new layers. Some may lay their first egg or three from roosts at night.
Others lay their first in the nest. I keep ceramic eggs in nests year round. , white egg is fake

From experience with my first Flock, Golden Comets, a sex-links type of chicken known to lay early, mine started at 16.5 weeks, all were laying by 19.
I would open/install nests by 15 weeks.
My second Flock are in their coop since 8 weeks and I never blocked the nests. Never had them sleep in them.
They learned to roost in the brooder and outside in the pen before I was able to assemble the coop. .
They would explore the nests during the day. , and roost after sunset.
Both roosts are above the top of the nests. .
If they learn to roost when young and roost is higher than bottom of nests. Should not have a problem of sleeping in nests. GC

 

[David61]

This is her as soon as i got the wire off.​

Boxes are the right size in the right place.
I got out to the coop after sun up. Three chickens were looking at me when i opened the nesting box lid. I had been using the boxes to store treats and a gallon of scratch feed. I'm keeping one nest closed off for this until all ten start to lay. I got the oats and scratch out and had a seat in the coop. After they settled down and were picking feed she went Back on the nest. As soon as she did two other went up to see what she was doing and off she came. Down, around the coop and back on the nest. When the others tried to go up i didn't let them. I kept them busy with some quaker oats. After 15 minutes or so two of them got past me and went up to the box. They just got still looking in and she came off the nest but the deed was done. They all came down. I wondered if she was been bullied off the nest or just not being left alone. I'm not sure but for the next few days I'll be sure to get out early and put scratch down and keep her sisters attention else where.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yea, but none of the other 9 were showing signs. I was defiantly waiting as long as i could so the others wouldn't trash the nests.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. You want to know if they are going to trash the nests or sleep in them before you start getting eggs. If they are trashing the nests there is a reason. It may be that they are looking for a safe place to lay before they start. That often involves scratching. If they are scratching the bedding out you probably need to raise the lip high enough that they can't do that. If you have them blocked off they can't check the nests out to see if they are a good place to lay you may be teaching them to lay somewhere else. Even with the nests open, a fake egg in there, and a lip high enough to keep bedding in there is no guarantee they will lay in there but your odds are a lot better if they can at least check them out.

If they are hiding in the nests during the day you may have a bully, an amorous cockerel, or your space may be too tight. That can be a little harder to fix but you can start working on it if you can identify the problem. Until you identify a problem you can't fix it.

If they are going to sleep in the nests there is a reason. I want to know that before I start to get poopy eggs so I can fix it. There are certain conditions where blocking off the nests as they are learning to roost might be a good idea, but usually if your roosts are higher than the nests and you have sufficient roost space it is not an issue. I know some people on here talk about blocking the nests as if it were the Holy Grail of chicken keeping. There are times it can be beneficial, but to do it just to do it is usually a mistake in my opinion.

Many pullets start looking for a place to lay about a week before they actually start. Their first egg is usually in a nest. Many of them get that part right. But occasionally (too often) some pullets don't have any control over what is going on. Instead of preparing a nest and going there to lay, they drop their first egg or eggs wherever they happen to be. That might be on the roosts or just walking around. There are a lot of different parts to a pullet getting everything working correctly in her internal egg making machine, from how to put the egg together (that's why you can get some weird pullet eggs) to when and where to lay it. If yours is laying it from the roosts she is probably having a problem with when. Are you providing lights, that can mess their timing up. Most get the bugs out of that system fairly quickly. If this is still going on in a couple of weeks get back to us. Until then open the nests, leave them open all day and night, put the fake eggs in, and walk away. See what they do. You may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[BDutch]

You made a beautiful coop/run.

I agree to be patiënte. Probably the pullet finds out herself where to lay the eggs if the nestbox is fine with bedding and fake eggs.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I agree with the advice to be patient. Leave the girls alone, they'll figure it out better, faster, the less you interfere. They are ovulating. They have little to no control over it and you have even less. Your presence is going to do not much but stress them, and a stressed hen doesn't lay eggs.

 

[David61]

Well she has laid her egg on the nest all week next to the fake eggs. Five days in a row now. I'll see if the others get the idea as two more did a squat today. I'm not using layer feed and don't think i will. I have all flock and a secure container of oyster shell plus feeding the egg shells back. The pan i save the egg shells in will get put in the oven when i turn the oven off and sit. I did it after making biscuits and then put them in with the scratch feed.

 

[rehdancer]

All sounds normal to me for first time layers. This has happened to me a couple of times lately. I'm imagining this last one to lay wasn't taking notes about her sister's behavior, or thought she was pooping or something.................... the first one broke, as it landed on frozen poop and I was more concerned about it being eaten !

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Well she has laid her egg on the nest all week next to the fake eggs. Five days in a row now. I'll see if the others get the idea as two more did a squat today. I'm not using layer feed and don't think i will. I have all flock and a secure container of oyster shell plus feeding the egg shells back. The pan i save the egg shells in will get put in the oven when i turn the oven off and sit. I did it after making biscuits and then put them in with the scratch feed.

That's wonderful news, @David61!