Fake egg advice...

[onedozenphyllises]

I got fake eggs from the feed store - they have brown and white ones. My girls have always been good about using the boxes, but lately I suspect they've been laying somewhere afield, so I might try the multiple fake egg suggestion. In fact, I caught one of them yesterday laying an egg in a seed flat full of dirt that was up on some shelves on the porch. Thankfully there was nothing planted in it!

 

[bighen]

I was wondering how big you nest boxes are? I have smaller ones and I was wondering if maybe they are to small for the size of chickens that I have and how far off of the floor do you put them?

 

[Judy]

I have five nests raised a few inches off the floor about 12" X 12" X12" and 12" X 12" X 18" wide, three on top of two. The top middle one is the favorite of those 5, and it is the smallest. I also have two large plastic bins on the floor; one is an upturned kitty litter box top. One of these is the favorite of all. The only two they haven't used are the two lower larger nests. In my other coop, there are two, one a 12" cube cardboard box on the floor, which is their favorite. The other is about the same size but about 18" off the floor. The broody uses the top of the higher one for sleeping with her chicks, but no one lays in it. Yet it was the favorite nest before I put the cardboard box in. I checked it out for smell and lice and changed the bedding and... they still use the cardboard one.

I won't bother to raise them off the floor again unless I need the floor space.

 

[Goat_Walker]

same here- I use the plastic easter eggs.

 

[Puck-Puck]

Getting back to the original question about where to get fake eggs: it might be awkward finding Easter decor in late July, but if golf balls will suffice, I expect any egg-resembling item will do. I'm looking around the house at what I might use: I have decorative stone "eggs", and cowrie shells that my Mom used to use to darn the heels of socks. I dare say you already have something that could serve. Perhaps a small ball of some other kind would do, or a small, rounded river rock. It is advised to use something hard, to discourage egg-pecking.

 

[HilltopFarm]

I used golf balls and they semed to work!!

 

[keljonma]

I had a friend that used large gravel as "eggs" and that worked for her.

 

[patandchickens]

I use a couple of generally-egg-shaped rocks I found in the paddock. The hens seem to think they're close enough, and they're absolutely indestructible. And of course free

(I also have a plastic easter egg in use, filled with sand and taped shut. That works fine too)

Pat

 

[sportsterchick]

I bought ceramic eggs from Cracker Barrel. If you live in an area that has these restuarants, you might try there. They look just like light brown eggs. My young hens are not laying yet, so hopefully these fake eggs will help.

 

[sillybirds]

I bought my fake eggs from Cracker Barrel too. They sell nice brown or white ceramic eggs on their website. But golf balls work fine too, and now that's all I use. Also, when you gather eggs, it's easier to tell which eggs are the real ones when you have golf balls in the nest boxes rather than the ceramic ones.