Nesting box question

[seattlechicken2019]

I got this chicken coop/run and the nesting boxes are shown here. All the other nesting boxes I see are more contained/covered... do you think the chickens will have an issue with these? I have 4 14-week old hens.
Thanks!

 

[Perris]

hello @seattlechicken2019 ! welcome to BYC

do you think the chickens will have an issue with these?

no I don't; they look fine to me.
What sort of chickens do you have?

 

[rosemarythyme]

If it turns out they don't like them you can always add some scrap wood to make the boxes feel more private.

 

[aart]

As long as they feel 'safe'(privacy has nothing to do with it) they will be just fine.
Add bedding and put some fake eggs in them.
But...
They may try to sleep in them, one nice thing about enclosed nests this they are easier to block from sleeping in and they don't get pooped into when a bird roosts on the side.
So....
Although they may work just fine, you might want to rethink them, either now or later.

Looks like a pretty cool coop. Is that a roost over on the left side?
Not sure there's enough room, but a poop board under that roost and the nests under the board might work out better.

 

[cmom]

I agree with the others. I would also put a fake egg or a golf ball in the nest boxes.

 

[ColtHandorf]

My very mature Orpington ladies enjoy laying in the middle of the yard while free-ranging, literally anywhere in the chicken yard, but usually out in the open, and behind the hanging feeder in the hen house. Sometimes they will lay in the milk crate nest boxes if they feel like it. So I say leave them and see if they'll use them. Probably they won't like the ones on the top but you never know.

 

[seattlechicken2019]

To answer your questions, Perris, we have a Buff Orpington, a Australorp, a Cochin, and a Wyandotte. And we got our first egg today!!! No idea who laid it, and the mystery lady laid in on the ground in the middle of the coop. I put fresh pine shavings in the nest boxes a few days ago and sprinkled some dried lavender in there, and put a golf ball in each, but no luck. Should I give them a bit more time to figure it out, or make them more enclosed?

 

[cmom]

Maybe they don't like the dried lavender. I have shavings in my nest boxes with golf balls.

 

[ColtHandorf]

It usually take pullets a few times to figure it out, especially if they don't have mature hens showing them how to get it done.

 

[aart]

Give it some time

Should I give them a bit more time to figure it out, or make them more enclosed?

I would give it some time...and build more enclosed nests.