Does the golf ball in the hen box really work?

[crazy4daisy]

I put my eggs in really early for them to get used to them...at about 14 weeks, and when they started laying at 20 weeks, they immidiately started laying in the boxes. I have never found ONE egg on the floor...it works!

 

[SandraChick]

well- to answer the question of when...doesn't really matter. The sooner it's done, the more likely you won't have one girl start early in a weird spot!

Although anything "eggy" will work, the golf ball actually has a dual purpose. Should you end up with an egg eater--they will peck at the golf balls too. Apparently, the golf ball has a "bounce back" effect on the chicken that's pecking at eggs and it rattles their heads....so it's like getting negative feed back.

I have EE's and they can be quite the egg hiders! If I get rid of the golf balls (I also have a couple pingpong balls), it won't take but a week or two to have at least one start to hide them! So....I just keep them in there.

GOOD LUCK ALL!
Sanrda

 

[HobbyChickener]

I am putting golf balls in there today. Hopefully I will let you know here in the near future what the outcome is. Thanks!

 

[Iamaqte]

I put 2 golf balls in each nest last night. So wish me luck.

If they are ready to lay, how long will it take for them to lay the eggs in there?

 

[patinoklahoma]

When I read the first post to this thread, I thought the golf ball was all about a snake. I soon figured out otherwise. I'll try that to encourage them to use their nest boxes.

I had a snake eating eggs, and I put golf balls in the nest, but he wouldn't eat it. He did swallow one of those fake plaster eggs, tho. I found him very sick, with the egg making a bulge. I retrieved the plaster egg, and the surface was like the surface of the moon. I guess his digestive enzymes were trying to digest it.

A month ago my 6 week chicks, as well as the big hens, didn't want to go inside to bed. We herded them in, with difficulty. Later that eve, I opened the door and there was a snake coiled around a baby, with it's head and neck swallowed. Darned snakes!

From now on, I'll pay more attention. If they don't want to go inside, there may be a very good reason.

 

[crazy4daisy]

Quote:
Oh that would make me so mad!

 

[FamilyOfChickens]

In the past, we've always just put the first egg/s we found on the floor, in the nest box. Within a day or two all the eggs were where they were supposed to be!

 

[joebwe25]

Yes, it does.
CarrieBrown wrote:

You should have one box per 4-5 hens.

We built our nest box in the garage window for our 4 hens, and they're fighting over it
ALL THE TIME!
We split it in half for the younger ones when we introduced them into the coop.
We also in fact, split the whole coop in half.
It was a big tangled up mess!
Luckily we aren't getting any more chickens or we'd half to put it back up!