First eggs-yay!, but....

[homeschoolmama]

How do you teach them to use the nest boxes? I have 2 BO, 2GLW, 1 RIR and 1 BA, just 20 weeks old today. Monday I went into their coop, after letting them out of the run to free range and saw that the nest boxes had been disturbed and one of the golf balls was on the floor of the coop. Looking around the coop, I found there was a lovely little 2" egg in one of the dusting "bowls" they make in the deep litter, way back in the hardest to reach spot. Today, again the nest boxes had been obviously occupied but an egg was in the same spot. Will they just figure it out or is there some way to get them to lay where they are supposed to?

 

[dkluzier]

my 20 week old cuckoo marans just started laying yesterday. There were 3 eggs in one nest box, we have 8 boxes. I have no idea how you'd keep them in the box to lay instead of on the floor or if they will change their habit on their own. Anyone with experience????

 

[SandRun]

Mine figured it out on their own; however I've read if you put a fake egg, a wooden egg or the like, or even a golf ball it is supposed to give them the right idea. I probably just got lucky. I've only found 1 egg outside the nest boxes.

 

[homeschoolmama]

I have golf balls in there and yesterday I added abunch more pine shavings to the nest boxes and shaped them to make it more "nest-y" shaped, similar to their dusting "bowls" they used. Since someone had obviously been in the boxes at some point before laying I'm hoping she was in the box feeling ready to lay, nothing happened and later when she was about other business her egg caught her by surprize or something. Thoughts?

 

[Happy Chooks]

My BO did the same thing. I added some more fake eggs to a nest. I clumped 3 of them together to look like a clutch. Everytime she made a nest on the floor of the coop, I collected the egg, and used a stick to mess up the nest. It took her about a week, but now ALL her eggs are in the nesting box.

 

[amysflock]

I think they can be finicky, but I've heard they like their nests to be darker, so if yours gets light from a window or chicken door, you might want to move it so it's more shaded, or try hanging burlap across the openings like little curtains. Mine preferred spots in the corners of the coop but I think my nestboxes were not quite ideal so will do something different this time. When mine free-ranged, they preferred to lay in one of two group nests they made in a hay bale.

 

[boxermom]

The nest box my hen is using is on the floor. It's actually shelves of wooden boxes that were to store farm parts. 4 boxes are on the floor and 4 are just above them. I've seen birds in the top 4, but the eggs are in the bottom box.