Nest Experiment.

[Col1948]

Just an update on my experiment, after removing the partitions in the long nest box, I have been watching how they pick and choose a spot to lay.
well first I put in the fake egg in a different spot everyday, this worked for a while then they ignored it and picked their own spot.
So as time went on I saw one hen in say spot 1 and another go next to her in spot 2. After they had laid their eggs another hen went in and laid in spot 2 but gathered the other egg from spot 1, so when she left there were now 3 eggs in spot 2.
Then the fourth hen went in and course she laid in spot 2 as well.

Then moving on since then I've seen one egg in spot 3 and 3 eggs in spot 1, and this varied from day to day, so sometimes they all laid in the same spot but other times it was random.
I went in a couple of times and found one egg say in spot 1, I removed it and later 3 eggs in spot 3, so again it is random.
There was one day I actually had 3 hens sat next to each other all laying, but the funny thing was as two left the last hen gathered the other 2 eggs and sat on them along with her own.

 

[aart]

So how are these 'spots' delineated?
Did you 'bowl' out the bedding , or did they?
Got pics, just for fun?

 

[Col1948]

No I put the bedding in and purposely evened it out so as not to make a bowl in any of it, they made three themselves.
I normally get 4 eggs everyday but on the odd day I've had 3, I know which hen lays what egg by size and colour, it is the same hen that misses a day, but it isn't very often.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

Just an update on my experiment, after removing the partitions in the long nest box, I have been watching how they pick and choose a spot to lay....

This reminds me of the 'Urinal Game', where you tested your feel for urinal etiquette by choosing which stall to use based on which stalls were already occupied.

I remember my bother showing me this game years ago and being amazed that I got them all right on the first try... to me it was common sense, but he's one of those super bright people that has a bit of trouble with social cues some times, so that game was a mystery to him

Maybe some hens are like my brother, lol

I can't find the actual game online without having to install something, but here's a video

 

[Col1948]

Ha Ha, it's the same as going in a waiting room, as a rule you sit one chair away from the other person, and if someone else comes in and they sit between you, then you give a kind of shuffle and move slightly but at the same time you feel uncomfortable.