Is it possible to train chickens to use nesters?

[Phantom_k9]

To provide some context to this: We are new to raising chickens. In a rush to make a sort of "coop" for our flock we took an old chain link pen and covered the bottom and top with chicken wire. We had sticks in the corners for our chickens to roost in at night, however in hind sight this wasn't a good idea. We lost two of our chickens to a bobcat reaching into the pen and killing the chickens on their roost, so we have since moved our flock to our garage until we can build an actual coop (which is almost done).
Now for my question: We put a ladder in the middle of our garage to provide our chickens a place to roost, and we have moved our nesters into the garage in case they choose to go there. However, one of our hens has began to lay, and one of her eggs saw first hand how tall the ladder was...
She has layed an egg in the nesters, but we don't want this to happen again. With this, we plan to only have the nesters in the actual coop.
How might I go about training my flock to use the nesters at night rather than other structures? Thanks in advance!

 

[SilkieRen]

I trained my silkies to go up to their little coop every night but for some reason, they don't want to go up unless I go out there and say "bedtime". That just might be the best I can do with them but what I did was consistently at sun down, I'd pick them up and put them on the ramp to go up. After a few nights they learned that they should go up the ramp every night though they want me to come out and tell them that it's bedtime before going up most of the time (hopefully your chickens won't somehow learn that their human should say "bedtime" before going up too XD)

 

[wyoDreamer]

You don't want chickens to sleep in the nest boxes. They will poop in them and make a mess and you will get dirty eggs.
Put fake eggs (ceramic, wooden, etc) or golf balls in the nest boxes so the chickens will lay their eggs in the nest box.
Make sure to put the roost bars inside the coop higher than the nest boxes. This will keep the chickens from sleeping in the nest boxes also.

 

[Kusanar]

Most hens do not lay at night when they are roosting, she is new to laying and will work the kinks out in time and stop laying at night and dropping them off the ladder. I wouldn't encourage them to sleep in the nest boxes though as they will be pooping in there all night long and get your eggs filthy.

 

[Phantom_k9]

Most hens do not lay at night when they are roosting, she is new to laying and will work the kinks out in time and stop laying at night and dropping them off the ladder. I wouldn't encourage them to sleep in the nest boxes though as they will be pooping in there all night long and get your eggs filthy.

Ok, gotcha. Will she eventually start using the nesters on her own during the day?

 

[so lucky]

Ok, gotcha. Will she eventually start using the nesters on her own during the day?

Yes, but you could put some golf balls or fake eggs in the nests to remind her where to go. The only time I have had chickens lay eggs from the roost is when they are first starting out, or are suffering from a reproductive issue, and laying soft shelled eggs.