nest boxes

[blueberrychickens]

My girls will be 17 weeks old as of Monday. I have their nest boxes blocked off since I didn;t want them in there yet. When should I open up those nest boxes so that they can get the idea that this will be the place to lay their eggs?

 

[Judy]

I would have golf balls in hand when I did it, and watch for a while to be sure they don't sleep in there. You could wait til you see some redness in the combs, or go ahead and do it now. If they all sleep on roosts, they shouldn't be a problem.

 

[flockof4]

You'll also notice your birds starting to squat when you go near them. That's a sign that they're getting close to laying eggs.

 

[chickfamilyonsleepyhollow]

I agree on using the golf balls or if you have some plastic Easter eggs ... they'll jump in and out of it then will start laying when the time comes ... I think its pretty much instinctive behavior ... good luck

 

[Judy]

Plastic Easter eggs also work well -- really, anything that looks more or less like an egg and is heavy enough not to get kicked out easily. Rocks are great if you can find the right general shape.]

If you use plastic eggs, you may want to fill them with sand for the weight.