Eggs in Nest Boxes?

[PepsNick]

So, my hens are not quite at a laying age, but for when they are... I'm worried about where they'll lay. The nest boxes are in the coop, and they spend ALL day in the run. My 5 hens don't even know the nest boxes EXIST. Golf balls don't work I think because they never look at the boxes. Here are some pics of the coop and nest boxes. Any help please?

Nests are on the right.

And just for fun...

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Don't worry, they'll find the nest boxes. They will seek out a dark, private spot to lay their eggs. It may not necessarily be the first time they lay an egg (often it drops out on the roost or on the coop floor) but they'll get it right soon enough.

 

[snowflake]

It is amazing how quick they learn. I have 2 leghorns that just started laying and even though they use a different coop to sleep in at night they started laying in the big coop nest box with the big girls.

 

[mxitman]

Yea, If you do get an egg on the ground put it into the nest box overnight, that usually works for me.

 

[buckeyefever]

I didn't get my nest boxes put in the coop until the morning after the first egg was laid. That afternoon I had 3 eggs in 3 nest boxes. My pullets had never seen a nest box before that day and they just knew where to go. Smart girls!

 

[fl_deb]

Yeah, don't worry, they will be restless and noisey the day they start laying if they are like my RIR. Plus, mine didn't even have a nest box (I was still building it and had not cut an opening into the external nest box, but boy when I presented my girl with the old vegetable drawer from an old fridge that I had replaced, she jumped into it like before I could even set it down inside the coop! Sorta like she was saying, "Yeah, yeah, this is exactly what I was looking for! Geeze, what took you so long to figure this out?)


Plus, they are now laying in their roll-away nest box. I just did one major change each day, or after they had laid their egg that day to get from vegetable drawer to nest box.

hope this helps!

 

[sugarjax06]

I wondered if ours would lay in the box also cause they are out in a huge area all day. They knew right where to go! At night they sleep on a perch just outside the nest box and sometimes they sleep in the box but I didn't know when it came time to lay if they would just stop, drop and lay. Hee hee! Hope you get eggs soon!

 

[PepsNick]

Great! Thanks for all the quick replies!! So do I still need to put golf balls in?

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
It can't hurt.

 

[2xchickenfarm]

Just before they were ready to lay, I put plastic eggs in each of the nest. Mine kind of look like yours. My first had a problem and still does laying outside. But the other 11 caught on and now are laying in the boxes. Good luck. I had chickens before and I truly believe they do teach each other. But for some reason these seem a little stupid but they are catching on.