First egg but hens not going into nesting box?

[faeden]

Two of mine that have started laying would kick the bedding onto the floor and make a cushy nest there. I have found them in the flower bed, under the tree. It's like an Easter Egg hunt every morning and night. They are at least now laying them in the hen house, one has even laid hers in the same box for the past 2 days. They started laying 5 days ago. Maybe the others will follow suit. lol

 

[sacchick]

I kept the nesting boxes blocked off. Opened them up a couple weeks ago, saw Ruby go in once. She has laid an egg a day in there since Sunday! This pic is before I added sand and bedding.

 

[mchughs4]

We also have kept our nesting boxes closed off and I was wondering when I should give the girls access to them? We got them in early April. That's good to know that they took to them right away!

 

[iwiw60]

We also have kept our nesting boxes closed off and I was wondering when I should give the girls access to them? We got them in early April. That's good to know that they took to them right away!

I'm no expert, and like you I'm playing the "waiting game" for my girls to start laying, but I've been told that when you either pet them or touch their backs they will do the "squat" (lay down) ... this is the sign they're getting ready any day....In a couple of weeks I'll be petting them ALL!!

 

[Lilrednana]

My pullets want roost they are all sleeping in one corner of chicken house any suggestions to get them to roost at night?

 

[roseyred]

All my now-13 and 14-week old chicks decided to sleep all together in the 2 floor-level nesting boxes of the coop. They're totally uninterested in the two roosting bars in the coop itself. One of my pullets has been squatting a lot lately, and I just realized if she starts laying soon the nesting boxes are occupied. Will there be a problem if they continue to sleep in the boxes; should I block off one of the two?

Mine slept in a huddle till they were like 16 weeks. Eventually it'll be more comfortable for them to roost. Make sure the roost is long enough they can still huddle together. As you can see mine now made the accordian roof there roost. Poop everywhere

 

[Our Roost]

Just some more food for thought. A ramp might help. Teaching them to jump right in there could be a bit difficult dont ya think? Not all chickens have learned to high jump.

 

[karenerwin]

My pullets want roost they are all sleeping in one corner of chicken house any suggestions to get them to roost at night?

Do you know if they can fly high enough to get to the roost bar?
You could move some or all of them onto the roost bar after they have bedded down for the night, that may help.

 

[SCchickens2011]

Here are my nesting boxes... just Home Depot buckets with lids, then cut the lids out leaving a "lip" on them to hold in shavings, attached to 2x4 runner boards using small screws, top row has a 2x4 "foot" that fits between the bottom far end buckets and the next one in to prevent sliding around, the wood bar across the top holds the back of the top row down so when they jump to the top bar the whole thing doesn't flip forward and fall, they come out easy (top 4 attached together, them bottom 5 are separate from the top but still attached together) .... easy to clean and they LOVE them, they typically only use the top ones though, not sure why...

 

[sophiesmith1010]

We put curtains over the nesting boxes and our girls seemed to use them a lot.