Help with nesting boxes

[Crazy_Beautiful]

I have 2 coops. One lays eggs in the nesting box the other doesn’t.

We originally made them a wooden nesting box each hole was 12x12x18. They never laid an egg in it. I left it in the coop for a year. They’d lay outside or on coop floor. Picture 1.

I then bought the plastic ones again they just laid on the ground. Picture 2.

I then took a nesting box from the other coop to try and still they continue to lay on the ground. Picture 3 the black box. This is a picture of my other coop and I’ve never had issues in this coop. This coop came with the nesting boxes and I’ve asked my husband to make me one just like it but to no avail.

I’ve tried the fake eggs and nothing seems to work.
Right now they have a tire filled with straw and the just lay beside it on the ground. I get 8 eggs a day right now and they all just wait and take turns laying on the same spot on the ground.

Ideas?

 

[DLA]

The only reasons I can think of that they wouldn't want to lay in it is height and amount of light. Now that they've gotten used to laying other places for so long it might be hard to retrain them, they are creatures of habit and don't like change. Mine like the darkest shadowed part of the coop and I have a step stool up to it so they don't have to jump too far. Have you tried taking the eggs already laid on the floor and putting them in the nest boxes then showing this to the hens that haven't laid yet? They might not fall for fake eggs but seeing real eggs in there might have some effect. If you can get even one to start using the nestbox the others might follow suit.

 

[Crazy_Beautiful]

The only reasons I can think of that they wouldn't want to lay in it is height and amount of light. Now that they've gotten used to laying other places for so long it might be hard to retrain them, they are creatures of habit and don't like change. Mine like the darkest shadowed part of the coop and I have a step stool up to it so they don't have to jump too far. Have you tried taking the eggs already laid on the floor and putting them in the nest boxes then showing this to the hens that haven't laid yet? They might not fall for fake eggs but seeing real eggs in there might have some effect. If you can get even one to start using the nestbox the others might follow suit.

Yes I’ve taken the eggs from the ground and moved them up. Didn’t work either. They are actually laying directly under the box I have and I’ve moved them to all different heights. I even bought all new hen this year and they do the same just as the old bunch did.

 

[Crazy_Beautiful]

I’m wondering if it has anything to do with having ducks. The ducks have a doghouse they lay in. And the chickens will use it but I do try and block their access if the ducks have laid for the day

 

[rosemarythyme]

Dunno about the ducks but the headroom in photo 1 boxes looks way too low. If the boxes are 12" tall the bedding is eating up about a third of the height.

Since the birds are laying on the ground under the boxes, why not just move the boxes to ground height? I have mine roughly level with the coop bedding so there is no "under" the box available to them.

 

[whatthechickens]

Your coop looks awesome!
Question on the first and last picture; are those the nesting boxes the hens are in? They look very open.
From my limited experience hens like dark and secluded spot, they lay eggs in the furthest possible corner from the nest box entrance (which is a hole near one corner.
I went a bit larger for my nest box just so they had a bit of room to manoeuvre.

You may need to catch them early in the morning before laying eggs and place them into the new nesting box and hopefully they stay put and lay an egg.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Your birds are pretty.

In pic #3, I think the boxes on top are too open/exposed. Being near the door looks like they get a lot of the light. The lower boxes in the same pic look to be too short, especially if they have to jump up to get in to them.

You could also try swapping out the bedding in their nest boxes. Or if you know who the primary offender is - the stubborn hen who under no circumstance is going to use a nest box- you could separate that chicken temporarily and try to retrain the others. I have 1 who does this, and a few who follow her lead. On the days she doesn’t lay or lays later, the others use the boxes. Of this one hen lays early, several others will do the same thing.

Good luck!

 

[PoppasGrill]

Chickens are weird. I’ve built nesting boxes, under strict supervision of a few cluckers, and had them jump into them to scratch the hay/ straw down then walk away to never look back.
Then we built a row of deep, dark boxes with a ramp leading up to them, and have the chickens pile up on each other to all lay in the same box, leaving the other 3 boxes abandoned.
Usually, with ours, changing the bedding will get them to at least check out the new boxes, even on the old boxes that they stopped laying in.

 

[Crazy_Beautiful]

Your birds are pretty.

In pic #3, I think the boxes on top are too open/exposed. Being near the door looks like they get a lot of the light. The lower boxes in the same pic look to be too short, especially if they have to jump up to get in to them.

You could also try swapping out the bedding in their nest boxes. Or if you know who the primary offender is - the stubborn hen who under no circumstance is going to use a nest box- you could separate that chicken temporarily and try to retrain the others. I have 1 who does this, and a few who follow her lead. On the days she doesn’t lay or lays later, the others use the boxes. Of this one hen lays early, several others will do the same thing.

Good luck!

Picture 3 is a different coop and I’ve never had an issue with these boxes.
My husband is now on the hunt for milk crates and wants to see if those will work and put them at ground level.

 

[Crazy_Beautiful]

Dunno about the ducks but the headroom in photo 1 boxes looks way too low. If the boxes are 12" tall the bedding is eating up about a third of the height.

Since the birds are laying on the ground under the boxes, why not just move the boxes to ground height? I have mine roughly level with the coop bedding so there is no "under" the box available to them.

I agree with the head room that was my initial thought. We no longer have these boxes I gave them to a friend who has bantams they work for her just fine.