Egg in nest to'encourage' laying

[Oz Chook]

I have a 7 month old Light Sussex and a 7 month old Araucana. Neither have produced a single solitary egg yet

I posted about a month ago and still nothing. They seem to look in the nesting box a lot, just like I look at holiday brochures a lot.... LOL

I've put a store bought egg in their nest this morning to show them that this is fact what it is for (I read on another post to give it a try, sounded funny, but thought anything is worth a shot!), how long should I leave it there?

 

[skeeter]

i would use something else it might get broken then they will eat it and its hard to break them from eating their own eggs once they start

 

[Oz Chook]

Oh, thanks, I'll get it out now!

Any alternative suggestions on what I could use, and how long should I leave it in there for? Just a day at a time or until they 'give up the goods'? hee hee

 

[airmom1c05]

You can use a couple of golf balls and leave them in there indefinitely! They can't tell the difference in shapes too well. That's how I got mine to lay in the nesting/laying boxes. I also used some plastic Easter eggs. Some folks use wooden eggs you can purchase in a crafts shop. Golf balls worked for me!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I found these beautiful artificial eggs in both brown & white at the store in our local Cracker Barrel Restaurant. They look so realistic in size, shape & texture that I once included some in a carton of eggs I sold ! Fortunately I discovered my error the next morning when I noticed the nest boxes were completely empty & was able to notify the customer before they tried to crack & cook the fake eggs.

 

[Dawn419]

Skip's a golfer so I use golf balls in their nest boxes. Once the girls figured out using the nest boxes, I removed the balls. The only girls I still use the golf balls for is the Silkies...they sometimes forget...

Dawn