How to teach your hen where to lay

[fishingdude93]

how can i teach my hen to lay in the nesting box.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Make sure the nest is open and ready when she starts to lay. I recommend 16 weeks, although it will likely be several weeks after that when they start.

Put a fake egg in the nest. A golf ball, a wooden or rock egg, a plastic Easter egg (half filled with sand and glued shut) work well.

Make sure the lip on your nest is high enough that they cannot scratch out the fake or real eggs or the nesting material.

I made my nest boxes so I could lock a hen in there if I wanted to. When I have one that is laying where I do not want her to lay, I catch her when she is laying the egg in the bad nest and lock her in the nest until she lays, then let her go. Usually it only takes a half hour but I had a stubborn Speckled Sussex that took several hours and two different days. She did learn eventually.

 

[Lynette]

I have a RIR that has laid 2 eggs so far and both times, she has laid them on the floor. Today, I caught her doing it and I was going to pick her up and put her in the nest box. Good thing I didn't reach down to her because she snapped at my shoe. She wasn't in a good mood at all, so I just let her finish on the floor.

 

[bella1210]

try to put easter eggs in there like the colored one you get on easter

 

[Ohhhdear]

When my ISA Brown hens began laying earlier this summer, I put a fake brown egg in each nest box. I got a dozen of them online on ebay. They're ceramic and weigh the same as a real egg.
I thought about using plastic easter eggs, but didn't because they're too light. I suppose I could have filled them with sand and glued them shut, but then cleaning them would have been a nightmare.
The only time I've had problems with the girls laying anyplace but their nest boxes is when one hen begins laying and a "jelly egg" slips out.

 

[Lynette]

She is the only one doing it so far. My other hens that are laying use the nest boxes. I have had plastic easter eggs filled with sand in them for weeks. Not everyone is laying yet, so I will have to wait and see if she is the only one that does this.

 

[alaskachick]

I use white ping pong ball in my nests. They work great.

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

I have had the same problem except all my hens lay in the nest boxes most of the time just a couple of them will lay on the ground pretty offen and at random it seems, I have wooden and plastic eggs both I think that works out well just wonder why they don't always use a box or nest. I didn't fill the eggs with sand or glue them shut I think I will do that though cause they do pop them open a lot, the funniest thing is I've had two rat snakes eat the plastic easter eggs (that I've found anyway) and a few just came up missing. I'm gonna subcrribe to your thread cause I would like to know if there is a better idea than just using fake nest eggs.