Needs tips to make coop more desirable

[ChicoChickens]

Inside our chicken coop we have 8 nesting boxes which we thought would be more than adequate for our 8 hens. Unfortunately they've decided that only 1 of the boxes is the place to lay so they are constantly either waiting in line for that one box or finding alternate places around our property to lay eggs (such as the rabbit hutch which apparently ALL the animals seem to adore for napping). The only difference between that one box and the rest is that over the top of the box, smack dab in the middle, is the end of a roosting pole that the chickens roost on at night. When we originally made the coop I thought for sure they wouldn't like this one box because they would bonk their heads on that pole but it was the only place we could attach it to the wall of the coop. Go figure! Should we add in an extra pole over the top of all the other nesting boxes? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Debby

 

[ams3651]

some chickens like a more confined box, maybe that is what you have going on. But I have 2 identical boxes right next to each other but they prefer one to the other, who knows.

 

[basicliving]

Hi ChicoChickens - it seems no matter how many nest boxes you have, there is always one or two they all fight over. Mine are the same.

One thing that did help mine is I stapled "curtains" on the nest boxes that hang about half way down. They darken the boxes a bit and I think they feel it's more private and secluded. They will still fight over one or two boxes, but I don't see them standing in line anymore. They will fuss a bit, but finally get in another box. Well, all of them but the hamburgs. The hamburgs only want whichever nest is taken, and it doesn't matter which one that is!