have you ever placed golf balls in the nest box?

[portlandpeeps]

Quote:
sounds like someone's having fun with you. either that or your hens have taken up golf. have you noticed that it only happens on wednesdays?

 

[redoak]

golf balls and ping pong balls

 

[Katy]

I can't keep them in the nest in one of my coops.....the pack rat kept carrying them off.

 

[Bugdude]

I read somewhere in here that the golfball could promote laying, so I put one in the next box and its been there ever since. They lay in the box with the egg and the box they created that does not have an egg
I have also read in here that a goldball or hard fake egg is a good deterent for them and egg eating. Probably because they peck the golfball enough to think their eggs are unbreakable.

The other day when one of my reds was getting into the box to lay I noticed that she would peck at the ball to position it under her and then she sat. It makes me think that they do that with eggs too which might explain some peoples pecked egg problems.

 

[Tricia's Triple Z]

This is a funny reminder, it makes me laugh...I was away and I didn't tell my friend who was collecting the eggs that I had the balls in my nests. He called me and said that my chickens had laid golf balls.

 

[Schultz]

We use golf balls to, I don't know if has led to our new pullets laying but they do lay eggs where the balls are!

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
yup, you're crazy..

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I use this behavior to explain to my kids the brilliance of blindly following fads & fashions. It seems the hens would rather not think much for themselves, but see something that looks like an egg in a nest box and think "Hmmm, someone else thinks that's a great place to leave an egg, I'll follow their lead & lay one there too! It must be a good place to raise a kid, everyone else thinks so!"

Cracker Barrel restaurants used to sell brown and white fake eggs that looked so realistic I once included one in a carton of eggs I sold to someone. It wasn't until the next evening, when I went to collect eggs & noticed the nest egg was missing, that I realized my mistake. I had to contact the customer and go swap a real egg for my fake one.

where shall I lay?

where shall I lay?

where shall I lay?

 

[sdshoars]

it doesnt encourage them to lay, i had golf balls in the nest boxes for almost 10 weeks before i got an egg, it just gives them the idea that since there are already "eggs" in that nest, it must be a nice safe place to lay their egg. and bugdude, my pullet (th eonly one laying) rolls all of the golf balls underneath her and sets on them before she will lay her egg, i think its just what they do. at least i hope, lol.

 

[sandypaws]

i use both plastic eastereggs (blue green and pink) and golf balls.. the golfball seam heavier and dont get pushed around as much,, and are smaller than the eastereggs for my banties...
i did have a bantie cochin want to sit/hatch a very large green easter egg.. i kept kicking her out of the nest.. she would go back and sit on it... i finally have to remove the egg..

the golfball seam to teach them where to go.. like SD says.. a hen sees an "egg" and decides it is a safe place to put her egg...
it worked well for my new hens this year.. xcept my marans, one keeps laying them outside in a hole or on the floor of the coop.. i hope she figures it out soon.. all her sisters did..