Eggs not in nest box

[tweetzone86]

1 inch thick x 3 inch wide ( actually 3/4 inch x 2 3/4inch wide attach 2 3/4 wide side to open end of your Tupperware box so the 2 3/4 wide forms a 2 3/4 lip all the way across the boards come long enough go easily across 3 boxes no need to cut hole in bottom.. use whole open end the "lip " will provide atleast a 2 in layer of straw or hay for the chickens to get comfy and not kick all the bedding out.

For now, I made a fourth box and stacked them two by two (all I have room for thanks to the chicken door- which was there when we bought the house- being in the corner). I pulled the bottom two out about 6" so the chickens have something to land on when they jump and then can walk into the nest box. I will probably try to figure out a more permanent (and smaller) bar for them to jump on in the next few days. It's rather claustrophobic for a human-sized person in there right now, (with them pulled out, they stick out about 2.5 feet) but for the chickens it should be ok.

I've got some big chickens though! I'm pretty sure they'd need a 15" square nesting box at least because they're longer than 12" when they lie down!

Will probably eventually build some wood nesting boxes that don't take up as much space as a 15" wide 2' long rubbermaid tote bin. But for now, I worked with what I had. Didn't get to TSC for the ceramic eggs today so will get them tomorrow. I've got 2 in the top two bins, and several have laid in the bottom two (those seem to be preferred) so hopefully that will help tomorrow morning.

 

[Barry42001]

 

[Cyprus]

I would leave ceramic eggs in the boxes and find a way to block off the areas on the ground where they lay.

 

[Barry42001]

The way it was set up the only place in there to lay was in the nesting boxes or in the hey I use as floor cover

 

[Barry42001]

I would leave ceramic eggs in the boxes and find a way to block off the areas on the ground where they lay.

I alwsys take all the eggs never used ceramic eggs. The hens are not exactly ballerinas and would find eggs with holes poked in them or flat out crushed. Always hens used the nesting boxes once they started laying. Not to say they didn't get sneaky and lay under low bushes . But not the norm.

 

[tweetzone86]

I would leave ceramic eggs in the boxes and find a way to block off the areas on the ground where they lay.

They are laying in the coop on the coop floor itself, not the run (save for that one, which was still warm so I bet the chicken got run out of the coop for some reason). I have ceramic eggs in two of the four and plan on getting another set on payday if it keeps up. So far adding the fourth nest box and reducing the amount of bedding in the coop seems to be working.

The run doesn't have anywhere to hide, so I think the run one was a genuine accident.

 

[tweetzone86]

I alwsys take all the eggs never used ceramic eggs. The hens are not exactly ballerinas and would find eggs with holes poked in them or flat out crushed. Always hens used the nesting boxes once they started laying. Not to say they didn't get sneaky and lay under low bushes . But not the norm.

Luckily for me no bushes in the run I can't let them free range due to neighborhood cats unless I'm out there. I couldn't find the one on the floor before stepping on it because I think the bedding was too thick (TSC ran out of my usual stuff, which is organic EZ straw (unsprayed, so can use for garden mulch and composting, but technically used for seeding lawns so I now have to order via Amazon til they get it back in spring), so I used a full 2 string hay bale and it had WAY more in it than I thought!). The bale made the bedding about 8" thick in there, as opposed to the usual 3-4" thick, and the smashed egg got hay scratched on top of it to where I couldn't see it-probably from a chicken trying to see if they missed any scratch I tossed down.

So far none broken in the nest boxes- they've all got super hard shells (I mix OS into their flock raiser feed and have never had a soft shell so far) and there's about 3" thick (and by thick I also mean lots of it compressed) straw in there so it doesn't hit the bottom. And if it does, it's a rubbermaid 25 gallon tote so the floor is just that plastic, not hard wood.

I have to laugh about the ballerina comment though, because I've seen them go in and out of the nest boxes and they step very dainty and lady-like, then they go out into the run and waddle across it like pregnant linebackers

 

[Relleoms]

You don’t need to spend money on ceramic eggs; I use golf balls & they have the same effect! Do you have a tray under your roosting bars to collect poop? If so, you could put some baskets under there. I’ve used these with success: https://www.containerstore.com/s/st...white-stackable-basket/12d?productId=11008132

 

[tweetzone86]

You don’t need to spend money on ceramic eggs; I use golf balls & they have the same effect! Do you have a tray under your roosting bars to collect poop? If so, you could put some baskets under there. I’ve used these with success: https://www.containerstore.com/s/st...white-stackable-basket/12d?productId=11008132

I don't have any golf balls, and I have brown egg layers. The ceramic ones are only $6 per pair so it's not that big of a deal.

I wish I did (our coop isn't prefab- it's the back 7' of a 10x20 shed). I'm still trying to figure out a good poop board solution that fits in the space.

 

[Mosey2003]

Most likely someone is getting bullied, so choosing to lay away from the occupied boxes. Get a couple more.