Golf Balls and Egg Laying??

[MedinaChick2001]

When putting golf balls in nesting boxes, is this just for helping hens figure out where to lay their eggs? My hens are almost 21 weeks, we had 1 small egg on 9-9 at about 10:30 am and then 1 on 9-11 at about 4:30 pm and none since. Its very confusing for me. I have 10 hens and all their combs are a reddish color. Are they all ready? Will the golf balls encourage them to let the eggs fly??

 

[rungirl]

The golf balls are there to show them WHERE to lay the eggs. Otherwise they may lay them where you don't want them.

 

[pookiegoldman]

You'll notice that when they're ready, their whole faces will turn blood red. It'll move past that dark pink. The golf balls will tell them where to lay.. like "OH, that's what I'm supposed to do here!" One of my girls just started laying, a production red, and she's laid twice in the nest box. She moved the golf balls out of the spot she wanted to lay in. Prior to finding the first egg, I had NEVER seen a single hen go into the box at all.

 

[woodmort]

They kind of like the reassurance of something hard and round in the nest--I suspect they think it is one of the eggs they laid prior to this one. I also have birds that kick the golf ball out of the nests too.

 

[wsmoak]

I've always thought golf balls or fake eggs help them think it's a safe place to lay eggs (after all, there is one already here, so...)

Otherwise if you keep collecting the eggs, their instincts will kick in and they will look for a safer place to nest.