Hen seems confused about laying in nest box

[JayDee]

I've done a bit of searching but didn't find any threads that addressed this.

We have an Araucana hen who has laid fewer than 10 eggs so far (spread out over 2 months at this point, but they are getting more regular -- every second or third day).

She always lays them in the dirt. Now, we always find them, and they're fine, but on my days off, I see her run around the run and then run inside the coop and then run back outside and lay her egg. I don't think there's ever been another hen in there when she's gone in, so they can't be scaring her off. And she's been in there on days she hasn't laid, watching the other three laying girls lay. (sometimes ALL the hens go in at once, 3 in the nest boxes and the other two watching them.)

There was a lice problem a while back but that's all sorted. There are no mites. None of the other 3 laying hens in that group have had any issues.

Any ideas? Can't really lock her in without locking them all in and I'd hate to do that.

 

[CCourson05]

Put a golf ball in a nesting box. If she goes in, she will think its an egg, and lay there. Once she lays 3 or 4 eggs in there, you can remove the golf ball to avoid broody hens.

 

[JayDee]

We had fake eggs in the nest boxes for a while, but there are often real eggs in the nest boxes anyway, so we took them out.

Should we put them back in?

 

[CCourson05]

I would until she realizes thats why they are there...Lol. I had several that were slow on the uptake...

 

[Judy]

Mine have been laying for over 2 years. If I remove the golf balls I find more eggs laid outside the nests.

 

[JayDee]

Oh! That's comforting. Will try again, so.

I was starting to think that she was just a little stupid compared to the rest!

 

[Ravishaw]

one day my son shut the door to the coop and my white leghorn was stalking around the coop cussing up a storm trying to get into the nesting box.