have you ever placed golf balls in the nest box?

[portlandpeeps]

today while cleaning my house in preparation for the holidays, i ran across a couple of golf balls and i thought hmmmm... i wonder if i put those in the nest boxes would it encourage them to lay? has anyone had success with golf balls or other fake egg objects?

 

[bluey]

I've used them to get the new pullets to lay in the coop nesting boxes. Of course, I don't know if it was because of the golf balls entirely, but that's where they lay now...

 

[Poppycock]

I use golf balls and they seem to work well. My new layers are all laying in the nest boxes and even come in from the run to lay. Such good girls

 

[redhen]

yep..i used fake plastic easter eggs...i think it worked for me..

 

[Dawn419]

We use golf balls in the nest boxes to teach our girls to use them, worked like a charm.

We had to keep one in the Silkies boxes or they'd lay in the furthest away corners instead.

Dawn

 

[portlandpeeps]

thanks! glad to hear of your successes. i'll put them in tomorrow and let you know if it has any effect. our hens are various ages and i'm thinking the one that hasn't yet laid doesn't have any role models since our older ones seem to be on strike.

 

[bluey]

I hate when they go on strike....

 

[Chickenfortress]

i have golfballs in the nest boxes. If i move the balls from one box to another, the chickens follow them and only lay in the box with the balls.

 

[clayhill]

Golf balls worked for me!

 

[gritsar]

Yes, but I'm still having disappearing golf ball issues!
Two golf balls each in four nests. One golf ball in an end nest routinely disappears. I'm telling you I have torn the coop apart several times looking for it. The day after I give up looking for it, it reappears in the nest.

My SO has suggested that one of the hens swallows it and then "redeposits" it. I think he just tells me that because he doesn't want to tell me I'm crazy.