FIRST EGG!! little concerned

[opi8]

Thats exactly why I had to lower the boxes. I spent almost 3 weeks every night going out at dark and getting all of em out of the nest box and onto the roost. 4 of em would be in one nest box (can't believe they fit). It happened every night, I got sick of it and moved the boxes down to floor level, when I did that immeadiatly on the roost.

I am thinking I should move the boxes a bit higher, but that would mean moving the boxes to a completly different wall...could messing with the location of the boxes mess with their head?

 

[cmom]

I actually switched coop and put my pullets in the hen's house and the hen's in the pullet's coop. Each coop had nest boxes. I wasn't sure how the change would affect them but I saw no real differance in their egg laying. Also I had a golf ball in each nest box. Each layed in the nest boxes in that coop. I only let them into the run attached to that coop. I shut off the yard so they couldn't go into each other's run or coop for a week. Then I opened the gates and let them choose which coop they wanted to roost in and lay their eggs. Eventually they all went into the hen's house. Now I have more pullets in the pullet's coop. Here we go again.

 

[BCMominMD]

I'm curious about the nest boxes filled with straw vs pine shavings. Could others share their experiences/preferences and why?
Thanks

 

[embkm]

I've only ever used straw in my nest boxes. Not including the crazy guinea, I've only had 3 eggs on the coop floor in 3 years. And those were the week after I found the blacksnake in one of the nests.

My neighbor used to use shredded newspaper and pine shavings. She would find eggs on the floor all the time. Once she switched to straw, 90% of her eggs were laid in the boxes.