nest box questions....

[karmical]

Hiya out there

My 7 girls are 19 weeks old this week and so I decided to add their nest boxes to the coop. I had a crate that I tipped on it's side and put in a divider, and some legs to raise it off the ground a bit...this makes two boxes to share. From what I read, I think that should be enough, yes? (that's question #1)

Off the nest box topic a little but it's background for question#3....they haven't grown a whole lot in the way of combs and wattles yet, so I doubt they're THAT close to laying, but a couple of them have grown and turned just red enough to make me want to be prepared. Question #2 is how big are the combs and wattles supposed to be as a sign of when they're ready to first lay?

Back to the boxes...two more questions...is it normal for them to completely IGNORE those nest boxes until they're "ready"? Not one has even tried to go inside one to check it out (not in my presence at least, but there's also no evidence of any activity in there....neat as a pin and no poops). I put my BR (the leader of the pack) in one trying to motivate the group to be curious about the boxes, but she just jumped right out again. Could I have made the boxes too small?

Maybe my inner control-freak is just rearing it's ugly head.

Not that I'm anxious for eggs to start coming or anything

 

[karri25]

You will definately see their combs and wattles get bigger and more red. It will be a big enough difference where you are like..oohhhh. THat's what happened to me earlier this year, I couldn't wait for eggs! Also some breeds take longer than others to lay. My freind and I got our chicks at the same time and mine layed way before hers did. She has a BR, RIR's, and a buff. I have cinnamon sex links and mine were laying like 3-4 weeks before hers. I hope that helps. Oh yeah, they will act like they don't even know what a nest box is until they lay.

 

[karmical]

Thanks Karri

Their combs and wattles are definitely not OOOOHHHHHH yet....guess I just have to sit tight a while longer and wait to see some action there.

And it's good to know that their ignoring the nest boxes sounds like just the right thing for them to do at this point. I can look forward to when they DO start checking them out and then I can start to get excited!!!

Thanks again for your reply!

Tracy