Good morning all. I have a 2 part question about egg laying and nests

[anzachickenmom]

I have 8 (17) week old chicks. One of which is a Leghorn. I understand they start laying earlier than the others. I was pleasantly surprised 2 days ago with a beautiful perfect white egg. I have some make shift nesting boxes in their coop that they don't seem to be too interested in. Daisy my leghorn, laid her egg in the dirt. I haven't seen another egg since. Should I be concerned or is that normal to go days without laying in the beginning? She is making more noise than normal so I was wondering if she is looking for someplace better to lay. The nesting boxes I have are large plastic cat litter containers that I saw posted somewhere online. Any suggestions for something better that is easy and inexpensive. Thank you for any and all responses. Have a great day.

 

[HomesteadDebi]

Have you tried putting fake eggs in the nesting boxes to lure her to laying there? I have golf balls and a few wooden eggs in mine.

 

[TwoCrows]

I had to make a temporary nest box after several hens went broody at the same time and I needed another nesting box for the other hens. So I went to walmart and bought a very large box...I think it was something like 15x15x36 inches. I worked it down to 15x15x18 inches or so, taped it all up and the hens loved it! Now that the broody hens are done using the regular nesting boxes, some of the girls prefer this cardboard box. It only cost $2.89 or something like that. In the office supply area.

Always put fake eggs in the boxes until everybody figures out where to lay.

 

[Mehjr10]

They will start to get the hang of where to go.. Here was my solution to egg boxes or buckets.