Encouraging nest boxes w plastic eggs - rhythm eggs? would these work?

[patandchickens]

I use rocks

Seriously, I have a couple roughly egg-sized-and-shaped stones I picked up in the horse paddock. Color and shape are not quite right, and they are on the small size, but they work great, seemingly better than the plastic easter eggs I've tried. (When I put an easter egg in one nestbox and a rock in the other, eggs are nearly always in the rock's box

)

Pat, "Born Cheap"

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Oh no, I wasn't suggesting using light bulbs for fake eggs! Just an example of what a hen might perceive to be an egg.

I have a few wooden ones from a craft store, some plastic ones, too. I'm going to look for the ceramic ones, next time I'm near a Cracker Barrel, too. I think the ones with some weight, like the wood, ceramic, wax, or golf balls, (or rocks, too funny!) are better, because they would feel more like an egg.

The plastic dinosaur and ninja turtle is one of the funniest examples I've ever heard of how hens will try to hatch anything, when the broody spell is upon them! Thanks for a good chuckle, Horsejody!

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
She sat on those toys all summer. At one point she tossed the dinosaur out of the nest. I guess she determined he was a dud, and she kept sitting on the turtle. Then one day the turtle toy was on the floor and so was she. I guess he "hatched." She was showing it how to scratch. I left the tuttle in the coop for her to fuss over. The broodie was killed in the dog attack in October, but the turtle is still there for old times sake.

 

[vermontgal]

Actually, patandchickens, I have a couple of egg-shaped rocks in the nest boxes right now. I was worried that cold rock on the chicken-butt would not encourage laying, but if you say it's ok... it's OK with me.

Thanks! Becka
(I am 100% good with being cheap -- wait, that's "thrifty"

)

PS. As to those of you with the super-broodies - my gals were selected for NOT being broody breeds, so I am not sure that they would gravitate toward that GI Joe action figure that I pulled out of my tenant's attic when I was prepping to blow in insulation....

 

[New2Peeps]

I was just reading through the nest box posts since I found my first 2 eggs on the floor of the coop today--despite having 2 nest boxes with a nice perch in front about 15 to 18 inches off the floor.

I have a white marble egg in each one but I don't think the chicks have ever been in the nest boxes.

Do you suppose those marble eggs are really too cold for their little chicken fannies???

 

[M@M@2four]

Golf balls worked for me--just threw a couple in the boxes and sure enough after a few days, they started laying them right with the golf balls! lol

 

[vermontgal]

I started introducing my chickens to the nest boxes a couple weeks ago, I guess right about the time I started this thread... Pick up the chicken, stick her in the nest box. Show her the "egg." I ended up with some plastic easter eggs from the 1970s (family of savers

) -- one is bright pink, the other is half purple and half orange. Why does my dad save these things? Anyhow, I went with it...

For my first egg, I knew right away that something was up, because the hay was moved in the nest box. My chicken ended up not using the nest box (we had some design issues, she used a plastic container instead) - but she definitely knew it was there, and knew what it was for.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
NO