how do u get a hen to use a nestin box

[big m70726]

I have 10 hens so are layin some aren't yesterday I went out to find one of my young hens is layin on the ground. A should I move her egg into one of the boxes or B just let her go and maybe she will learn from the other hens? but her eggs are gettin cracked from them walkin on them so i'm new as well and don't know what to do any suggestions plzs.

 

[NonnasBabies]

Do you have fake eggs in the nest boxes??? If not I would place some in there!!

 

[MichenerFarm]

You can go down to your tractor supply/feed store & buy fake eggs (if they don't sell them you can buy them online). Put them in all of your nesting boxes- this should motivate your hens to start laying where they should- in the boxes

 

[big m70726]

ok thanks

 

[cjbollinger]

I'm a newbie as my status indicates, so easily confused. I put golf balls (2) in each of my nesting boxes but one - I left one empty. I've had 4 small eggs (2 on the ground in the coop and 2 in a nest box prior to putting in golf balls). Then no eggs! So I read to put in the fake egg (many suggestions of golf balls) and that will get things rolling. I wasn't sure who was laying the eggs that I had collected, but I found out today! It's my eldest hen Lady, a B.B. Red Old English Game I caught her in the nest box WITH OUT the golf balls in it. Maybe the balls are too big and intimidating for her? The other hens are a bit young to start laying yet, so I'm pretty sure it's only her - but now I'm wondering if I should take out all the golf balls?

 

[abejita]

golf balls work too!

 

[cjbollinger]

...Lady, a B.B. Red Old English Game I caught her in the nest box WITH OUT the golf balls in it.

Well….apparently not always

 

[Wynette]

golf balls didn't work for me - I had to switch to wooden eggs.

A couple of points -

If they continue laying on the ground & get stomped on, you could quickly get egg eaters on your hands and trust me - you DO NOT want that to happen!

I had a stubborn gal that refused to lay in the nest box. So, I worked with her...I used a rubber feed pan (like the ones you use for horses - low sides) and filled it with shavings and a wood egg. I placed it in the exact spot she laid her egg the day before. Took a couple days, but before long, she was using the feed pan. Then, when she was consistently laying in the pan, I ever so slowly moved it closer to the coop each day. If she laid back on the ground, I moved it back...eventually, after a couple of weeks, the pan was just inside the coop door, and from then on, she laid in the nest box.

Good luck!

 

[sdeneen2001]

Mine managed to figure it out from a plastic whiffle ball. The very first egg was on the ground, the rest have all been in the nest (one consistently burries the egg in the shavings, but it is still IN the nest)

 

[pippsqueak]

Golf Balls! Lol