Golf balls in the nest box

[farmerkim]

I put golf balls in the nest box and it worked great. My girls started laying on thursday and went to the right spot. My question is can I take them out now? They keep kicking them out of the box.

 

[chickenbottom]

it would probably be best to leave them in. for a while. also does you nest boxes have a lip to keep the stuff from falling out or eggs from rolling out? that might help with the golf ball situation. and congrats

 

[rooster-red]

If they have layed in the nest box for several days I would take the golf balls out. They've proven that they have the idea now.

 

[Judy]

I agree that if they are kicking them out, I'd take them out and see how it goes.

 

[rainbowgardens]

I did a little experiment a while back to see just how open to suggestion my hens were.
I usually kept a golf ball in each nest box and of course the girls had a favorite one they all wanted to lay in. One day I took the balls from the other boxes and put them all in just one...the one they never seemed to want to lay in. Well, as you can guess, that became the favorite spot. If I move the balls to a different box, that soon becomes the egg laying nest.
Those birds are crazy!

 

[starforever61]

That's so cool that you got your first eggs!

I would take the golf balls out now if they are kicking them out.
have fun with them!

 

[Chickens n' more]

I have a golf ball in every nest box (9). My layers are all about 2 yrs old now and they all lay in the nest boxes. The golf balls dont seem to bother them. I collect eggs 3x a day now due to snakes. We have ALOT of them in the spring and early summer!!

Since I collect so often, the snakes only have golf balls to eat and when they do.....so long snake! They can not digest a golf ball. They eat the egg or golf ball and then go wrap theirselves around a post or small tree to break the egg so they can digest it. The golf balls wont break so they die. They do eat them because I have seen it and I have had to replace several missing balls. It has been several weeks now since I have seen a snake so the population seems to be dwindling until next year! My Grandmother raised many, many chickens on this farm and taught me the snake/golf ball trick.