Laying on the poop board

[mekaboyer]

I have 11 chickens, my white rock has decided that she wants to sit and lay on the poop board, when I catch her sitting on the poop board I put her into one of the nesting boxes but she usually jumps right back out and goes back up on the board. She is about 6 months old, none of the others do this, is there a way I can fix this??

Thanks,
Mike

 

[mychoock]

I have a similar problem, so I hope someone answers us. My hens have just begun to lay (since four days ago), and two eggs were on the floor, the other three were laid in the nest.
Any advice? I did leave one egg in the nest box, but don't want to leave it there indefinitely. I guess I should look for a plastic/ceramic egg to use as a decoy?

 

[CupOJoe42]

How far below the roost is your poop board? Can you describe your set up? Is the roost higher than the nest?

 

[m_shuman]

I used golf balls in all of my nests and I have never had an egg laid anywhere but in the nest box.

 

[mekaboyer]

I have golf balls in the nesting boxes, and the board is 12 inches below the roosting bar, I tried 6 as well.

 

[florida lee]

one of my Wyndotts ( about 6 months old )started out laying in the nest box, then for no reason i could determine she decided to lay on the poop board. I even watched as one rolled off and broke. so I just let her go ahead and lay where you want. her sister ,the Australorps and my RIR were using the nest boxes..... a few days later she started laying in the nest box. No more eggs on the poop board. Not a big deal, she only layed about 4 or 5 on the board. Never did figure out why and she never said.

 

[mamabigbird]

I think a lot of newbie pullets lay their first few in odd locations.
Possibly because they don't really know what's happening down there.
And when they figure it out they may be a little intimidated by the older hens,
who can pick on them a bit before accepting them as nest worthy.
I've had good results golf balls. I just leave 2 in each box permanently.

 

[teach1rusl]

To be clear, is she laying her eggs on the dropping board, or actually laying (as in resting) on the dropping board????

 

[mekaboyer]

She is laying her eggs on the poop board mainly, but I have also caught her resting there too.

 

[elmo]

Sometimes we'll get an egg laid on the poop trays, too. I know one of our chickens actually prefers to lay in high places (I've caught her trying to nest on the roof of the run several times).

You can try putting a nestbox up at roost level and see if your hen will lay there instead of the tray.