Golf balls and artificial egg question

[tri-5-ron]

At what age should my hens be, before I place some "props" in the nesting boxes?

My hens are now 2 1/2 months old, and have been living 24/7 outside in the coop/run for 3 weeks.
They are finially "going to bed", each night on their own, around sundown, without needing to be herded towards the coop.

I do not think they ever go into the nesting boxes, they just go inside and head for the upper roost's, usually near the heat lamp side.

So I guess my question is,... Once they get closer to laying age, will they seek out the nesting boxes ?, and do I need to use golfballs or artificial eggs to prompt them?
Also, has anyone ever used the kids leftover plastic easter eggs as props? (You know, the plastic eggs that came filled with M&M's etc.)

here's a couple of pics of their coop...

 

[RocketDad]

I used golf balls to clue in my hens, 3 in 5 nest boxes. I moved them around every day, so that the girls would notice them. Sometimes I put them all in one box, sometimes scattered, ya know, to give really visible difference. Worked great. I looked around the house for some plastic eggs but couldn't find any (weird - seems like I'm tripping over stuff like that when I don't want it but can't find even one when I decide I need 'em). The golf balls seemed to work fine. It's just enough to give 'em a clue. Once they start laying they'll notice the eggs and check things out, then you'll probably find 5 large hens wedged into one nest at a time.

Sometimes Hobby Lobby and places like that have terra cotta or wooden decorative eggs. They might be pricy, but trying to come up with a decent order at one of the poultry supply places always costs me more.

Be sure to watch your hens in the nests when they start exploring, to see if they need anything "extra." My nests were lined with masonite over 1/2" foam insulation, and they were sliding around on it. The shavings were getting tossed out, just from them going in and out, and they looked uncomfortable getting in and out. So I bought a chunk of astroturf and stapled it in the bottom then covered that with the shavings and they liked it much better. For your plastic tubs if you need to put a liner in a caulking-gun type construction adhesive should work.

 

[Kittymomma]

I put them in the nests when the pullets were around 15 weeks or so. I also used the plastic Easter eggs--filled partway with sand to give some weight to them and duct tape around the middle so they didn't fall apart, it worked fine. Nothing better then the first egg from your own hens.

ETA: LOVE your coop!

 

[PunkinPeep]

I didn't have any golf balls, and i didn't get my fake eggs in the nests in time.

My first layer kept laying on the roost. She would scoot all the way over to the wall so that the egg would rest on the supports for the roost. It was perfectly balanced.

So i had to work to get her laying in the right place.

I think that if she had seen the eggs in the right place before she started doing that, it might have helped a lot.