How to get hen to use nesting box

[ASD Dad]

Their run is sort of free ranging. It is very large but enclosed on all sides with wire fence and the whole top is covered in hawk netting. Its probably close to 80' x 50'. Also includes a garden they love to forage around in. One nest is actually in the garden! I have two birds laying in there every day. My Cochin lays in her nest by the shed every day.

To answer the other question - my wife is trying to use these little tubs she found at a store. They are plenty large enough for one bird and we have straw and a golf ball in two of those in the coop. They are currently on the floor. We had them sitting up about 6" and also about 12" but they were ignored. They are still ignored.

Their outdoor nests are tiny in comparison, just small depressions they have made in the dirt shaped like a bowl.

I think it could be my coop too, it is pretty wide open (its a hoop coop) and super ventilated due to our heat and humidity. The back 3/4 is fully covered on the outside to keep out elements and provide shade but thats it. Nothing is truly "enclosed" (aka walls). The coops is fully wrapped in wire with a large door, so it is not like they are out in the open but they are not in a walled off area either...

 

[webbysmeme]

Yup try locking them in. Also I'd measure the nests to make sure they're large enough.

What size do they need to be?

 

[Fishkeeper]

Are they laying in specific spots every time? If the nests are in specific places, you could just remember where the places are and go pick up the eggs from there instead of worrying about nesting boxes.

 

[aart]

To answer the other question - my wife is trying to use these little tubs she found at a store. They are plenty large enough for one bird and we have straw and a golf ball in two of those in the coop. They are currently on the floor. We had them sitting up about 6" and also about 12" but they were ignored. They are still ignored.

Tubs can be unstable, like when they step on the edge and the tub moves.
Bird needs to feel 'safe', that's why nests with sides and tops might be better.
Once they start laying somewhere else it can be hard to break the habit without confining them to the area you want them to lay and keeping them away from the area that they want to lay.

What size do they need to be?

12 x 12 x 12" minimum....I like 14 x 14 x 16" .
Did you know that they stand up when the egg actually emerges?

 

[rosemarythyme]

What size do they need to be?

In the front mine are 14.5" cubed (that's internal measurement), rising to about 22" tall in back due to sloped lid.

 

[RodNTN]

Make sure the nests are concealed from other chickens, and make sure the nests are dim inside. And try ceramic eggs, winner every time!

 

[SueT]

I have been able to get hens to use new boxes by putting real eggs in them. I work on one box at a time. I take all the days' eggs as they are laid, one by one, and put them in the new box. The hens see the eggs and think 'well everyone else is using it, maybe I'll try too.' It takes more than one day, sometimes a week, but I have always convinced at least one to convert to a new nest. Fake eggs don't convince my hens, but the real eggs do.

 

[[E]thernet]

You should try colored easter eggs...

 

[BReeder!]

I can sympathize with how annoying it is to have hens laying in less than desirable places. We have 5 hens that are 21 weeks old and 2 pullets that are about 7 weeks old. 3 of our hens are laying and all three lay UNDER THE COOP.
Everyday my wife or I have to fetch 1 to 3 eggs from under the coop where there's only 10-12 inches of height, and they lay to the back always which is 3-4 feet from the front where we can access the crawlspace so to speak. Additionally, I have destroyed the nest by spreading the straw that they use to make their comfortable nests - they simply rebuild the nest every time I do this. I have not managed to get fake eggs yet and would hate to waste eggs by leaving them in the nesting boxes as decoys. I did try some very round egg sized rocks, but those did not work. I placed straw in the nesting boxes, but that didn't work either. locking them in resulted in eggs being laid on the coop floor. My nesting boxes are rather low, which seems to be the preference for my girls. That has not helped though. The boxes are spacious - I built them oversized because two of my girls are Light Brahmas (will be very big). The head height in the next boxes is more than under the coop, but not drastically. I believe the boxes are 15" tall. It's a real conundrum. I have decided I am going to give in and go buy some fake eggs to put in the boxes and then try to lock down method again. Good news is my at least two of the three layers currently lay early in the day around 10-11AM it seems, so I should only have to maintain the lockdown until noon or so.

 

[aart]

I have decided I am going to give in and go buy some fake eggs to put in the boxes and then try to lock down method again.

There ya go!
Might need to confine them for longer tho...
...and block off access to under the coop for a time.