Moved nest box and flock stopped laying

[growandresist]

Hi- I am doing a coop/run remodel and moved the nest boxes. Since doing so, many of our chickens seem to have stopped laying. We have 9 hens and usually get 6-8 eggs/day. As soon as we moved the boxes we started getting 2-4/day. A few of them have gone in the new location and others are laying elsewhere in the run.

The new location is just lower than it was. We moved it lower to allow us access from outside the run and because some of them were taking to sleeping in the boxes at night. I thought by lowering the boxes it would curb the sleeping in them.

Any suggestions to get laying hens used to a new nest box location? And, is it normal for them to suddenly stop laying for non-seasonal and non-molting reasons?

Thanks!

 

[nurse_turtle]

Chickens DO NOT do well with change. Put some golf balls in the nests. Make sure the nest boxes are lower than the roosts to help keep them from sleeping in the boxes.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yep, chickens hate ANY change, no matter how minor. Give them a few days to a week and they'll be back to normal.