nest box??

[Craig's Egg's]

I have the nest box blocked in the coop,, my girls have no idea it is there yet because I didn't want them to end up sleepin in there lol!! they are almost 14 weeks now, when should I start opening up the nest box and puting straw in there? and using some dummy eggs??I would guess the dummy eggs if they stary laying eggs out of the nest box?? It seemed like a good idea to not let them use the nest box until they started gettin closer to laying!! maybe I should have ask for suggestions first oops.......... any comments will help thanks and I hope your havin a great day!!!!!!!

 

[SadieSue]

I have no answer to your question. I have 4 hens, only one of which is mature enough to be laying. She uses her nest box faithfully but nest boxes are ignored by the younger hens. I just wanted to say hello neighbor! I'm in University Place.

 

[Craig's Egg's]

Hello neighbor.. you must be enjoyin all this sunshine too then!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

 

[gritsar]

So long as your roosts are higher than your nestboxes, I would go ahead and open them up now, just to see what happens. So long as they don't take to sleeping in them you shouldn't have any problems.

If they try sleeping in them, close them off again for another week or so.

It's alright if they investigate them a time or two. They need to get used to them and the idea of what the boxes are for. I never closed my boxes off. I just made sure they were lower than the roosts and then let nature take its course. The boxes were there from the start, with golfballs for dummy eggs. Once the girls were ready they started using them automatically.

 

[Craig's Egg's]

thanks alot I wish I would have read this before I ordered dummy eggs!!golf ballls work just fine to?? man oh well any way thanks again

 

[gritsar]

Craig's Egg's :

thanks alot I wish I would have read this before I ordered dummy eggs!!golf ballls work just fine to?? man oh well any way thanks again

Basically anything that looks semi-egglike works. Color doesn't matter either.​

 

[popdrop21]

Im new to all this????? do i need nesting boxes?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:

If you have laying hens, yes you do. Otherwise your hens will lay their eggs any ol' where. The eggs will get all dirty, covered in goodness knows what and not be very appetizing at all. Plus, every day will be an easter egg hunt for you and eggs will most likely be missed in the process. Most anything will do for a nestbox. Some folks use those square plastic containers that they sell cat litter in, others use large hard plastic buckets. I have always used covered kitty litter boxes. They work quite well and give the hens the privacy they crave.

 

[ryanhodapp]

you need something. I am using the top of a copy box lid. I have a work table with a shelf below. I have put the box lids on that bottom shelf with hay. I also added the fake eggs. Just needs to be a bit darker. If you dont have nesting box, they will lay where ever, that is not good to be on an egg hunt every day.