Encouraging Use of a Free-Range Nest Box

[PostageStampRanch]

Hi All,

It's been quite a while since I've posted here, but I love to read ideas and philosophies of our various members. Maybe someone can share his or her wisdom on my question. Some background:

The coop for my 2 hens is a converted Little Tikes Playhouse. A 10-foot roost extends diagonally out the window into what should be a run, but due to space limitations at my new PostageStampRanch, is currently too small for them to flap down & back up. (Placing a ramp also proved to be too steep for them.) Food and water is outside the coop. The solution was to let them free range in my small yard…and rototill my garden, but that’s another story.

I had previously set up the attached collapsible table inside the playhouse/coop as a platform for a cardboard nest box. It worked for my 2 hens 12 years ago, but not for the current 2. They created their own nest in the corner of the coop, on the floor. I could reach it easily, and eggs were clean, so I (as the Beatles sang) let it be. The table was folded against the wall to give them more room to go to roost.

I’ll be adding 2 pullets in the next few weeks to my “huge” flock of 2 young hens, so coop space will really be at a premium. The big girls currently have an automatic pop door to let them out 1st thing in the morning (before I’ve had my coffee.)

I saw a free-range nest box idea online & thought I’d try it to conserve coop space. (Hopefully it’s not just an influencer posting a cool pic for content vs something that’s workable.) I’ve set one up made out of a plastic square planter box filled with shavings. It’s under an awning where I can observe. It includes an egg from my Titleist “hen” AKA my husband’s golf bag.

They gave us an Easter egg hunt with a few in the planter strip last year, but have returned to regularly laying in the coop. (We’re in process of adding an adjacent, separate run, so they can free-range in about a quarter of my backyard, but stay out of my bloomin’ plants. Aaand, I just caught my Green Queen digging in my vegetable garden...again. The chicken wire around it didn't keep her out this time. )

Is there anything that I can do, other than locking them out of the coop during the day, to change the coop floor laying habit of my adult hens? I’d like to make it an inviting space for the pullets when they’re ready, as well. One hen has been eyeballing it. I’ve scattered BOSS near it to draw their attention. If this doesn't work, plan B is to add a 5 gl bucket on its side attached to the outside of the coop window. This would preserve what space there is, but would present another problem of stabilizing the nest box on the outside.

Thanks in advance!

 

[LaurenRitz]

Try putting your new nesting box where they're used to laying for a while, then move it?

 

[PostageStampRanch]

Try putting your new nesting box where they're used to laying for a while, then move it?

Hi LR,

Thank you for responding.

It would be a pretty tight fit. It's why food and water are outside the coop. I could try it though, just to see what happens. Any idea how long to give them to figure it out?

 

[LaurenRitz]

No idea. Once they're laying in the box, put it just outside and block off "their" corner. They should default to the familiar. Or they may decide to nest elsewhere. There's a reason they chose that corner, after all.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The way I've taught a hen to use the nest I wanted her to was to build a couple of my nests so I could lock a hen in there if I wanted to. That has come on handy for several different things over the years, not just for this. When I catch a hen in the act of laying in a nest somewhere I don't want them to use I catch her and lock her in the nest I do want her to use. Sometimes I can take her off of the bad nest but sometimes I run her down with a fishing net.

Usually she lays her egg within 30 minutes of being locked in the nest. I had one that took 3 hours to finally give it up. Usually doing that once is enough to convince them to move her nest to where I want it to be. The hen that took 3 hours did not learn her lesson, I had to do that again before she caught on. Luckily I'm retired and could be around to catch them on the bad nest.

All of my nests are in the coop but some people on this forum have remote nests. As long as the nests are dry in the rain and the hens can get to them as soon as they wake up it should not be a problem.

 

[PostageStampRanch]

The way I've taught a hen to use the nest I wanted her to was to build a couple of my nests so I could lock a hen in there if I wanted to. That has come on handy for several different things over the years, not just for this. When I catch a hen in the act of laying in a nest somewhere I don't want them to use I catch her and lock her in the nest I do want her to use. Sometimes I can take her off of the bad nest but sometimes I run her down with a fishing net.

Usually she lays her egg within 30 minutes of being locked in the nest. I had one that took 3 hours to finally give it up. Usually doing that once is enough to convince them to move her nest to where I want it to be. The hen that took 3 hours did not learn her lesson, I had to do that again before she caught on. Luckily I'm retired and could be around to catch them on the bad nest.

All of my nests are in the coop but some people on this forum have remote nests. As long as the nests are dry in the rain and the hens can get to them as soon as they wake up it should not be a problem.

Hi RR,

Thanks for getting back to me.

One of my hens, Ruby, is definitely fishing net material. She's the stubborn, flighty one who I chased out of my vegetable garden for the 3rd time.

Today, I was trying out my original theory of locking them *out* of the coop to use the free range nest box. I was foiled by the new auto pop door, which decided to re-open due to detecting light. (I'm still figuring out how to make the door do what I want it to do.) Caught Ruby just after she'd laid an egg in the coop.

I've since moved the new nest box temporarily into the coop to get them to start using it. If that doesn't work, I'll see if I can nail down exactly when they lay and keep them briefly locked in to get them to use it. I don't like to separate them from their water for too long and the 2 gallon Igloo waterer is a bit large to fit in with the new nest box. They very much enjoy free-ranging.

Seems I'm off to take care of stuff a lot lately. Hopefully, I'll have time to really observe what they do with all of this.

The free range nest site is in a quiet, protected corner where I can see it from the computer. It would make egg collection a little easier as well as save coop space. Maybe I'm expecting too much for them to choose my site when they could hide eggs in the planter strip.

 

[PostageStampRanch]

Just an update on my experience, so far, for anyone trying to solve a similar problem.

Ruby and my other layer, Luna, have taken to laying eggs...next to the nest box in the coop. Maybe they think it's a "next" box. It was centered on the wall. They laid behind it. I moved it to the back. Of course, they laid in front of it.

To add "insult to injury", Ruby has gone broody for the first time. Sigh. Nightly chicken jail for now with a cat carrier in the new unfinished run.

Today I caught Luna in the coop laying in front of the "next" box. I picked her up and placed her half way into it. She just froze and stared at the box and its clearly fake egg like, "Really?" Then she indignantly hopped out of the coop.

(Side note: Still fighting with the auto pop door. I manually override and close it. It decides it's daytime and opens. So much for temporarily locking them in. If I block it, I'm afraid I'll get busy or called away on the next urgent thing my family needs and forget to open it. Maybe I'll have to stand there and stare at them until they lay. )

My "next" box *may* be too small. I thought it would work, especially since I had a hen years ago who decided to cram herself into a tight space. She laid a clutch of eggs between the run and a fence. I couldn't tell how she even turned around.

It's been a while since I've set up a nest box and I forgot how much space they might need. In my zeal to get this solved, I was excited to find a planter box that looked like the right size.

Hens are:
Medium sized Blue Amaraurcana.
Same weight, but a little larger Green Queen (possible mix).

Chicks are:
Expected to be medium sized Barred Rock/"raptor" hen.
Expected to be medium sized Brown Leg/"Golden Eagle" hen.

"Next" box dimensions are:

13" interior width and height at the opening
12" width and height at the back wall (since it's a planter box on its side)
12" depth

I have just won an auction for a wooden toddler-sized open toy box. It looked more to me like 2 sturdy open nest boxes on top of 2 open storage bins (or 2 more nest boxes) when I spied it. I had big ideas of eventually putting it under cover in the boring new dirt run (that still needs a sand bottom) as a comfy nest box option. I might need a ramp to make it easier to get to the nest boxes (31" high).
https://www.target.com/p/modern-two-shelf-toy-kids-39-bin-white-pillowfort-8482/-/A-81068602

Dimensions from the toybox site are:
Interior Width of Bins: 14.41"
Interior Depth of Bins: 12.24"
The top 2 bins/nestboxes are open to the sky. So, it's slightly bigger than the "next" box, but open on top. Maybe Luna will check with her ruler and approve the slight increase in size. Maybe the open top will seal the deal.

The new run sides are just chicken wire. To be secluded enough for them to want to lay eggs in the nest boxes I also won fake ivy privacy screen at the auction. It's the kind people put on chain link fences. Maybe lining the chicken wire with this screen would help? Your thoughts?

 

[LaurenRitz]

I would be interested in pictures. I don't think I am seeing your space.

There must be some reason they don't think the "next" box is a good option.