First egg, wrong spot and few other questions

[Beckyloo]

We had our first egg today. Unfortantly she laid it under the coop. So I blocked the coop off at the bottom. I also put hay in there boxes. I also took the first egg and colored it, then placed it in one of the nesting boxes. What else can I do to tell my ladies this is where there eggs belong?

How long can an egg stay in the coop before it is considered bad? How long will an egg keep in fridge? We have 16 chickens so I'm thinking we will have plenty.

One last thing is since the nice man who was turning my shed into a coop for me stopped before it was done, I did not have enought windows for my girls. What I did untill I can find someone to fix my coop was open the nesting box lids about 4 inches, to let air in. Plus I put a fan in the coop. This has worked well but I am afraid this will stop them from laying in the boxes. Will this stop them from using the boxes?

 

[Beckyloo]

anybody?

 

[jreynolds]

I'm still learning too, but to get my girls to lay in the boxes I took plastic Easter eggs, filled them with gravel, taped them shut and put one in each box. Then I picked up my one chicken who had begun to lay (outside on the ground), and put her into the nest box. She looked at the egg, pecked it a bit, and snuggled down in the straw. The next day I had an egg in the box! A few days later another girl followed her example and I had two eggs together in one box. Since then, all eggs have been in the boxes.

Not sure about the fans though, that might be deterring them.

Eggs will keep in the fridge (and be edible) for weeks...supposedly the ones that you buy in the store can be up to 6 or 8 weeks old. Not sure about how long they last in the coop though, especially in hot weather...

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Also

 

[Beckyloo]

Thanks. no eggs today. I'm going to turn the fan off and see. My ladies took all the hay today out of the nesting boxes, so I think they are gonna have my hands full getting them to use them. I will have to try the easter egg trick. Now getting them to stop kicking the hay out of those boxes.

 

[Den in Penn]

The pullets often throw the nesting materials around while investigating the nests. Its a good sign that they know the boxes are there and have an idea they are for nests. Do the boxes have a lip on the front to keep the nesting material and eggs in the box? Many people keep their eggs on the counter before using them. They can stay good for several weeks unrefrigerated.

 

[Beckyloo]

We are putting a 2x4 brace at the bottom today keep the hay in the boxes. Since I blocked the underneath of the coop off, they have taken to laying on the coop floor. We had our 2nd egg today
but it was cracked due to the fact they layed it on the floor instead of the boxes.

 

[Snooglerat]

Once you start getting lots of eggs, an easy way to check to see if an egg is good, is to put it in a bowl of water. The water should be deep enough to submerse the egg completely. If the egg sinks it is good. If the egg floats, it is bad. The freshest eggs "lay" at the bottom of the bowl of water. Older eggs will stand up at the bottom of the bowl, but won't float to the top. Hope this helps a little!

 

[Weljack]

I built my nesting/egg laying boxes (2) with their purch stick right on top of the
boxes, they walk by the open boxes every night, so when my hens started laying eggs,
they found their spot right away. I also had problems keeping hay in the box and the young
inexperienced hens would drop their eggs on the hard wood box floor, so I took some old
carpet and cut a square and stapled it to the floor then added hay, they still scratched the hay
away, but the carpet they couldn't and it saved the eggs until they learned to just sit and after that
there was never a broken egg.

 

[Beckyloo]

Great ideas Thanks, Fist girl to lay in the box gets box of fresh mealworms for the group. What is they keep laying on the coop floor? How can I stop that? Outside is easy just lock them inside till they get it, but in there coop I'm clueless.

 

[72Lark]

My 2 sex links just laid their first eggs today! The first one was laid on the coop floor around 10. After work @ 12, I took a nest box out and filled it with shavings and straw and put a lone orange plastic golf ball in it. As soon as I put them back in the coop, one of them-the one I thought laid the first egg-immediately got into the nest box and sat down. So I thought she was going to turn broody after just 1 egg. Turns out, she had an egg of her own to lay!