My chickens STILL won't lay eggs in the nest boxes. Any suggestions?

[yankeefan]

SUCCESS ! ! ! I have taken the first egg laid in a nest box !!

I used two old plastic milk crates, turned on their sides as makeshift temporary nest boxes. I fastened a 1"x4" board to the front opening and threw some straw inside them, then placed them on top of a couple of patio blocks in the coop.

I checked the coop today when I got home and to my pleasant surprise, there were eggs in the box that is darkest. I didn't try to darken the boxes, but the one in the corner is a bit more secluded.

Thanks to all of you for your help. I was hoping that the chickens were just gonna "get it" eventually. But with a little help, I think we're on the right track.

 

[myramelinda]

I have 6 chickens and 4 nesting boxes filled with pine shavings and colorful plastic easter eggs.....they go up the ladder into the coop and everyone of them lay in the first box....it is dark in the coop but it amazes me to go out in the mornings and find 3-4 eggs in the same nest...."go figure!"...

 

[uffdaa]

Everyone's coop and birds are unique, so what I share, I don't offer as axioms or laws, merely some observations.

First, the nesting boxes for beginners get used more quickly and more often if they are positioned lower to the floor. Mine are just raised on a concrete block or two, That's it. Purely my experience, but the pullets don't "get" jumping up to lay an egg right away. I get a few who lay on the floor for a week or two, just because I don't believe they themselves even realize they are laying egg. Who knows what is in a chicken's mind. But with the low boxes, they catch on very, very quickly.

Second observation. A long time ago, I noticed that some boxes just never got used. I used to wonder why. I know they love piling up a clutch, I got that, but why build the clutch in one box over another? Many years ago, it dawned on me that my grandmother, who kept hens from 1890's in the 1950's and who was instrumental teaching me an awful lot about the birds, used to put a burlap flap or two over the boxes. Since most traditional hen houses face south, to maximize the sunlight and solar heating in winter, she used to say, "they like their privacy and some hens will "linger" for awhile". I remembered her saying that, so I experimented in making the boxes darker, and turned one away from the light, making it easily the darkest box. Sure enough, the next day or two EVERY hen in that pen laid in the dark box.

I re-oriented the same box toward the light and turned a different box away from the light, making it the dark box. Bingo. Every hen, within two days, switched right over to the dark box. Chickens cannot talk so they cannot speak to us about such things. We have to watch, observe and take note of what their behaviors are "telling us".

This has been such a good answer for me to read! I have been panicking because I thought perhaps I was just doing everything wrong. My hens are just now turning 22 weeks old and a few of them have started to lay eggs. I was panicking because they have been laying them under the roost. So I was worried that perhaps they are all going to do that, but I have rearranged my coop so that the food and water are well away from the nest boxes, and I have put some fabric partially over the openings to the nest boxes, as well as fake eggs inside the nest boxes, to see if perhaps it will coax them into the boxes to lay. Crossing my fingers!!!! Thanks for such valuable information!

 

[Peppercorngal]

Chickens are wonderful and curious creatures. I have 40 hens and 36 nesting boxes. They like their boxes and have used them to lay in for years. I have a little "brooder" shed that (because our chicken feed/straw shed burned down) I've had to store feed and straw in lately. The girls were going crazy wanting in the brooder, so one day I just let em in! They are now taking turns laying on top of a 1/2 bale of straw! There is one on the "nest" and one waiting almost all day! I was working out there today and watched them for hours! I found 8 eggs in this straw nest today. Just goes to show you they will do what they want, where they want and when they want! I love my girls!

 

[lavenderhengal]

Everyone's coop and birds are unique, so what I share, I don't offer as axioms or laws, merely some observations.

First, the nesting boxes for beginners get used more quickly and more often if they are positioned lower to the floor. Mine are just raised on a concrete block or two, That's it. Purely my experience, but the pullets don't "get" jumping up to lay an egg right away. I get a few who lay on the floor for a week or two, just because I don't believe they themselves even realize they are laying egg. Who knows what is in a chicken's mind. But with the low boxes, they catch on very, very quickly.

Second observation. A long time ago, I noticed that some boxes just never got used. I used to wonder why. I know they love piling up a clutch, I got that, but why build the clutch in one box over another? Many years ago, it dawned on me that my grandmother, who kept hens from 1890's in the 1950's and who was instrumental teaching me an awful lot about the birds, used to put a burlap flap or two over the boxes. Since most traditional hen houses face south, to maximize the sunlight and solar heating in winter, she used to say, "they like their privacy and some hens will "linger" for awhile". I remembered her saying that, so I experimented in making the boxes darker, and turned one away from the light, making it easily the darkest box. Sure enough, the next day or two EVERY hen in that pen laid in the dark box.

I re-oriented the same box toward the light and turned a different box away from the light, making it the dark box. Bingo. Every hen, within two days, switched right over to the dark box. Chickens cannot talk so they cannot speak to us about such things. We have to watch, observe and take note of what their behaviors are "telling us".

"Chickens cannot talk so they cannot speak to us about such things. We have to watch, observe and take note of what their behaviors are "telling us"."

This is the most sensitive and correct response to anything I have read on this website. I am pleased to have read your words, Fred.

So many people think that forcing hens to suit their human agenda and human parameters is the only way. And that goes for all farm animals. All agricultural "industries" have devolved over time to ignore animals' needs and to force living animals into situations that are horrific, just to satisfy some monetary greed of the farmer. This mistreatment probably happened slowly at first until people got used the idea of treating animals like objects, but it has resulted in the abject cruelty we witness in chicken factory-farming and other types of animal "husbandry." And in the backyard flocks, as well.

As we care for our small flocks, best practice is to stay alert to what the chickens tell us they need, not try to fit them into our agenda. Don't provide just the minimum "recommended" square feet for the most birds, nor leave coops filthy because it is easier for the owner. None of that would be the birds' choice.

We should ask ourselves, what would be the choice of these sensitive and very instinct-driven birds? Humans should stay flexible and try different options for the care of their birds' needs. Don't make the coop too small. The recommended coop sizes are too small, ridiculously so. And then the owner wonders why his birds are pulling out each other's feathers! Why do you think?! They need more room.

Greed should not dictate how your birds live. Nor should ignorance nor apathy. Making your income on the eggs of suffering birds is not the right choice. You are causing suffering and benefiting from it. What does that say about you? That is sadistic and sick, plain and simple. Look in the mirror. Is that you?

It is time to think more, consider more, observe more, appreciate more. Don't follow the path of least resistance in caring for your birds. Don't offer these birds the bare minimum. Time to step up and be a better human and not accept the lowest common denominator of care for our flocks. Perhaps the trend toward the debasement of the lives of other animals can be turned around? Perhaps we can stop thinking that treating animals poorly and cruelly is a natural state of humanity. It is not. It is a choice. Make sure you are making the right choice.