We have five hens. 4 out of 5 are laying and they are laying in the same spot. We have nesting boxes, but they choose to lay in a corner. They seem to wait in line. One lays and the next one moves the egg and then lays, etc. They just started laying on Nov. 5. We have got 18 eggs from then until today. Just wondering why they want to all lay in the same spot.
From my experience and asking on BYC I think they like to copy what the other girls do....if one bird thinks its okay to lay on the floor ...then it must be okay....I have found if I put some golf balls in the nest boxes that they started to lay there instead and how high are your nest boxes? ....hope my 2 cents help....
If you are able to watch them getting ready to lay, slowly pick one up and gently put her into a nest box. I had one that refused to lay in the nest box, she'd lay on the floor in front of it. I finally picked her up & put her in the nest box; she jumped right back out, I picked her up & put her back in...did this several times over several days, and she's now laying in the nest box. Sometimes, it's hard to correct.
