I have 6 Barred Rock chickens about 22 weeks old. I've had the coop and run finished most of the summer but haven't had a chance to build the external nest boxes. Should I get these done as soon as possible, or will they find a common spot to lay eggs? Also will not having an egg box deter egg laying?
Chickens don't need all that interior coop furniture. They are Ok just being raised on the floor. That's what I did for several years. I just made sure they had a lot of bedding on the floor so their feet wouldn't get too cold in winter. The nice thing with roosts/nest etc is that it may keep poop out of the nests. So don't worry and do your coop when & how you like. Imp
And you could just put some milk crates on their sides, or use covered cat litter boxes in the interim. Don't need anything fancy.
Most of the time they lay anywhere but where you want them to anyway. Joking aside, I'm with gryeyes -- give 'em something temporary that seems safe and keep it lower than the roosts so they don't sleep there and you should be able to convince them to lay somewhere relatively clean in the interim
You don't have to give them something to lay in, but if you do it will keep the eggs cleaner. They won't be walking around that spot and pooping. It will also encourage them to lay in the coop, so you don't have to hunt for the eggs. Well, that's always the plan, anyway. It doesn't have to be something fancy. Just a crate, litter box or a livestock feed bowl that's the right size would work.
I used the plastic storage bins that stack with low front. 1 upright 1 upside down with a little box under it. My pullet went broody in the 2nd.it hasn't got to be anything fancy but you want clean eggs
all I've ever used are milk crates on their side with hay in it, and a board across the front to keep the eggs from rolling out. Four in a row, set up on a board on top of a couple of concrete blocks. But my son just got an old speaker box, minus the speakers, and we've thrown that in there, with some hay for cushioning. It's only been in there two days, but I fully expect them to use it.
I have this vision of my girls happily nesting in their boxes and thanking me for the plush egg laying digs. Reality is: my vision is just that - a vision. While some the girls do actually use the nest boxes, the others seem to enjoy trying out new locations and opportunities. We find eggs on the floor, on top of the next boxes and suspended in the net we strung under the roost sto catch the "roost board eggs." I am of the opinion that cats and chickens are closely related since both seem to have a "do your own thing" attitude.
My older girls enjoy laying in cardboard boxes in the coop. They walk right by the prefabricated ones my hubby put together. So I took them out for the bantams.
When I was little, my grandmother had an old outhouse in the back with a bucket with a bag of lime in it and the chickens used to go in there and lay eggs in the bucket. When I got my chickens, I didn't have time to build them nest boxes before they started laying, so I took a 5 gallon bucket and put bricks in the bottom, then hay on the top and put it in the coop. They loved it so I added a second bucket. I also provided a box with bedding, but I they seemed to prefer the bucket, probably because it was up off the ground. The chickens don't care, but I eventually built them nest boxes anyway. Oh, don't forget to add a golf ball or fake egg to help them figure it out just in case. Lisa
