Nesting box hotel open for business...when can I expect guests?

[wrldlygrrl]

So, my easter eggers are now running on to about 18 weeks old and I have opened the nesting box for business. Will they know to go up the ladder when they are ready to start laying, or do I need to show it to them and put a couple of fake eggs in there? Also, I have one long box with no dividers...will that be a problem or do I need to put some type of dividers in?

 

[bantam_n00b]

To my knowledge, most hens don't lay till atleast 6-7 months, but then again i can be wrong. Whenever i put in nesting boxes in the coop i usually put the hens in the nesting boxes and let them examine it. This way they know its there. I've put nesting boxes in their coops before and they wont even bother with it until i put them in there for them to examine it. Also, the box with the long divider, i would try to make it the length of the other ones. If you make it too big then sometimes usually more than one hen will eggs will lay her eggs there and that can be a problem when they go broody. You don't want two hens trying to nest in the same spot it will mess with the eggs when they go broody.