Encourage egg laying in nest boxes!!!!!

[Harryojwright]

my chickens are laying outside near a tree, how do i get them to lay in the nest boxes!!!

 

[sjmarshall87]

I am fairly new at this but have been having the same issues. I was instructed to keep my girls locked up longer into the day. It took me 3 days keeping them locked up till 2 pm to get them to understand they had to lay in the house. We havent gotten into the nest boxes yet but getting closer!

good luck!

 

[JodyJo]

keep them locked in a bit longer, till at least 11/noonish. Place golf balls in the nesting boxes, I also put a "privacy" curtain in front of my boxes, no issues now.
I had to do the lock down thing 3 times...after finding eggs all over the place, I think they got it now! They all use the same box, but it seems to have been
the best advice.

 

[teach1rusl]

Fake wooden eggs in the nest boxes will help. Most chickens prefer to lay where there are other eggs, because it's "obvously" a safe place (as attested to by the "egg" already there. Containing them to the coop/run for a few days to get them started can help too.

 

[teach1rusl]

Fake wooden eggs in the nest boxes will help. Most chickens prefer to lay where there are other eggs, because it's "obvously" a safe place (as attested to by the "egg" already there. Containing them to the coop/run until late afternoon can help too.

 

[WillowWoodsFarm]

Yup, I did what everyone else did and it worked beautifully!

I googled my question and found an article that said that chickens tend to lay in the beginning of the day and to leave them in there coop until late morning. I leave my girls in their coop until about noonish, at least and to no fail, I have been getting eggs EVERYDAY in the nesting boxes! YAY! My Lacy, has only been laying now for about 2 weeks (she is a red star or red sex-link) so I was very surprised to see that she is laying everyday like that! Im so proud of her!
I also read a couple of other things.... You can try the ake eggs, like everyone has suggested AND I read awhile back that if the boxes are too big that they may shun away from them. Now, like I said, this is what I have read and dont know the truth behind it BUT I can say that keeping them in their coop longer, helped me and I hope it helps you! Good Luck!!!!!

 

[CarolJ]

I got fake ceramic eggs from a seller on eBay. They are so realistic that I finally had to get a Sharpie and write FAKE on them so I'd know which eggs to take out of the nest box.

They did a great job of showing the hens where to lay. We've only had three eggs laid elsewhere - and that was when they first started laying. Now they know where to go - but I keep the fake eggs in the nest box anyway. I think the fake eggs keep them from trying to eat real eggs, too. They tried pecking the fake eggs at first - quickly learned it didn't work. So we don't have any trouble with pecked eggs - and so far only had one egg with a crack in it.