How do I get my chickens to lay in their nesting boxes?

[aart]

keep kicking everything out of the boxes.

Typical new layer behavior.
The front lip of the nest should be about 4-6" above the bedding.
Then just give them time.

 

[Red Horse]

Mine stopped laying for a little while when they molted and as they started laying again some were leaving their eggs in the middle of the coop instead of in the boxes, although there are ceramic ones in there. I just moved their egg into a nest box and left it there the rest of the day for them to see and they laid in the boxes again from there on out. If you have a hen that has started eating them you might want to look at a trap-type box design where the egg rolls out as soon as its laid (when you get them laying there again)... from what I've come to understand they will not stop eating the eggs once they start and others might catch on as well.

 

[3KillerBs]

I had the fake ceramic eggs in the boxes for months and they keep kicking them out of the boxes. They seem to love to wreck the nesting boxes

Destroying the nests is normal POL behavior -- their hormones are telling them things that they don't understand.

Raise the lip on your nest boxes and keep fake eggs in there. I like golf balls because I live in a golf resort area where used balls are cheap and abundant and because I can tell a golf ball from an egg by touch when reaching under a broody.

 

[ChickMT]

Well, apparently I didn't need to post so quickly .

My hens started laying in the nesting boxes the same day I put up the curtains and have been consistently do so ever since. They have also been less destructive with the bedding and fake eggs in the nesting boxes as well.

Thank you everyone for your responses!