First Egg Not Layed In The Nest

[Buff-Island-Australorp]

Ok, I know most will tell me to give it time, but for weeks now, I've been preparing the nest boxes with bedding, and putting golf balls in them, and just messing with the nests after my chickens jump up on the roost, so they see me messing around in there.

I got my first egg yesterday, and it was found in a corner of their run on the ground. Not in the coop, and not in a nest box.
My boxes are "chicken accessible" from inside the coop, and "people accessible" from outside. The problem I think I may have is, I think they were built too high up. They are approximately 3' from the coop floor, to the floor of the boxes. I have a perch bar accross there for easy access, but could they possibly be too high? Or will they just figure it out?

Since I have golf balls in the nests, what other things are there to do, to encourage using the nests?

I also have a milk crate with straw in the run that did not get used yesterday when the hen laid the egg.

 

[AinaWGSD]

I really doubt they are too high. We went to a local children's zoo yesterday and they had a bucket hung about 4 1/2 feet from the ground of the enclosure they were in (it was about eye level for me). There was one hen in the bucket working on an egg and a second on the perch waiting for the nest. If you don't already, you might try making a ramp up to the nest boxes for easier access.

 

[nurseshelly]

Quote:
Mine like the higher up nest boxes. Mine just started laying this month. Some of the hens have "got it" right away and only used the box. Two others took about a week to figure it out and I would find an egg on the ground or on the poop board. Now everyone is laying in boxes.