laying eggs in same spot but not in nest boxes...couple of questions

[bethc]

Hi All! I am so excited to have found this group since we just got our first set of girls. We have 4 red sex-links that are ~24wks. They are free range during the day and go into their coop at night (they have not gone into the hen house yet).

They are all laying an egg a day!!! However, they are not laying in their nest boxes. Fortunately, each girl is very consistent about where she is laying but we would like them to lay in their boxes. Anyway, here are my questions....

1. How can I get them to lay in their nest boxes? (I have a golf ball in one box and a plastic egg in the other.)

2. If I try to put them in their nest boxes, when would be the best time of day to do that...at night before we shut the coop, in the morning before we let them out, just before they lay their eggs (They lay their eggs before 9am)?

3. Would it be better to just leave them in the coop for a couple of days so they have to lay their eggs in hen house or would that disrupt their egg laying?

4. And finally, if I can't get them to lay in their boxes, will they continue to lay in the spots they have chosen or will they move?

Thanks for your help!

 

[CalebtheChicken]

Just lock them in the coop for a few days and they should start laying in there

 

[FarmGirl01]

Quote:
That is just about the best thing you can do right now. Just give them some time to learn what they need to do. The nest box shoud feel like a safe place to them. Nice and dark.

 

[bethc]

It is really dark in there...my husband asked how good their night vision was because he was worried they wouldn't be able to see the boxes.

I hate the thought of locking them up for a few days. They love to go out and are waiting for me at the door in the morning! I think they might get really loud if we didn't let them out.

 

[pgpoultry]

Lock them in where you want them to lay until about 10;00 a.m if they lay before 9:00 and usually after a few days they will accept this routine. Even if they start to lay later in the day, they will be likely to go back to the area where they were previously locked in.

I have two hens who do not lay until the afternoon and I do not have the heart to keep them in so long. I spent a little time watching them and have discovered where they lay in the garden and take the eggs from those places daily,

Sandie