Nest Box 2.0 ??

[jthornton]

No, the little boogers are mostly laying in the back corner!

The first pullet to lay was squeezing behind some cardboard that covered up the coop controls and laid several eggs there before I discovered it and closed the hole that was there for the camera. I'm just glad she didn't poop on the Raspberry Pi and short out the computer lol.

Blocking off the area will make them look for a better place for sure.

Oh and the first egg I found was in a half full bucket of pea gravel... I promptly moved the bucket outside the fence.

JT

 

[Ted Brown]

The first pullet to lay was squeezing behind some cardboard that covered up the coop controls and laid several eggs there before I discovered it and closed the hole that was there for the camera. I'm just glad she didn't poop on the Raspberry Pi and short out the computer lol.

Blocking off the area will make them look for a better place for sure.

Oh and the first egg I found was in a half full bucket of pea gravel... I promptly moved the bucket outside the fence.

JT

LOL! I am lucky, no places that are not obvious and they lay in the same places. I have six eggs in back corner and 1 in the NB 2.0, 3 of the 4 nests have been used so far (I keep track of everything).

 

[aart]

I'm just glad she didn't poop on the Raspberry Pi and short out the computer lol.

 

[Ted Brown]

This morning I went to do my chicken chores and saw two pullets in my new nest box. No eggs, they were still on the floor over in the back corner.

Go figure although I take it as a good sign. We are up to -5C today I will install my brooder wall and see what happens.

 

[Ted Brown]

Update previous post:

This morning I only retrieved 5 eggs from back corner (7 active layers), thought nothing of it as I often get a late egg and flip back and forth between 6 or 7 eggs daily.

I went out late morning and discovered 2 more eggs both in the nest box!!!! I have previously had 3 eggs, 1 at a time in the nest box this the first time I have had 2 - progress!!

 

[Ted Brown]

Update #2 Success (step 1?)

I installed my brooder wall at the front of the drop boards yesterday (1st day with manageable temperatures). I left one of the large opening panels off and put another board at 90 degrees midway of the drop board length (closed off the side containing the favoured back corner).

This morning I found six eggs in the new roost box, expect another one around mid-day hoping it too will be in the nest box. Front the left side I had one egg in box 1, four in box 2 and one in box 3. As @jthornton suggested closing off and forcing the move had the desired effect.

[PM Update: My 7th egg came around 2pm laid in nest box 2.]

My thought is to leave the brooder wall in place for 2 weeks and then remove, guessing that this length should be enough to burn the new behaviour into their little brains? Anyone have any different suggestions?

PS While I was re-installing the wall I thought about how we had to train our initial ISAs to use their roosts but our hatched Ameraucana mixes were imprinted by older pullets. Expecting that the 4 Ameraucana pullets will be imprinted by the ISAs to use the new nest box..

 

[aart]

Great they are using the nests!
2 weeks sounds good....or longer if there's no real reason to take it back down.

 

[electrycmonk]

Great they are using the nests!
2 weeks sounds good....or longer if there's no real reason to take it back down.

I'd go 3+ weeks. Just to be safe with wierd weather.

Over the last 3 weeks a few(?) Or our pullets/hens have had the random desire to drop an egg in the open run and not in their preferred nesting box(es?) And it's been truly random. Once this week. 2x last week.(once on floor of coop at the entrance automatic door)..... The week before that out in the run again... (Shrugs)