Nesting boxes and egg laying???

[digitS']

Quote:
That's been my one experience with impacted crop - you bet.

Steve

 

[chick_newbie]

Oh no, we don't want impacted crops. I have straw in the run otherwise they wouldn't go outside. The coop is all wood chips though. I am in the process of getting the divider out of their favorite box so that it will be bigger. Can't get the one screw out so will have to wait for DH to get home and do that one. I am hoping that will make all the ladies happier.

 

[gretchenhau]

I have 2 drawers up on straw, one bucket they loved to lay in in the garage before the coop was built and one real box. The lay their eggs right next to the outside wall which isn't good when it is cold, and won't have anything to do with the box.

Help.

 

[Wynette]

Have you tried golf balls in the nest box? That sometimes helps. Sometimes not. I have 2 juveniles that insist on laying on the floor of the coop. Drives me nuts, as whenever I see them start to go into "egg lay mode" I pick them up & put them in the nest boxes...they jump right back out. Sigh. I dunno if they'll ever stop laying on the floor.

I have one that's been laying a few months longer, and she laid on the floor every time she laid - right by the pophole door, in fact. She's in a different pen, even. Well, she took a 3-week break from laying, and started back up last week - now, she's all of a sudden laying in the nest box! So, with some, it just takes a bit of time. Good luck!

 

[Mortimer]

For the problem with them kicking out their nestboxes, I solved this by adding a taller ledge on the front of the box. The nestboxes came with the house when we bought it (bonus!) and are wire-frame, with just a small 1" or so lip on the front. We always had the same problem with them kicking out the boxes.

When we added 8 more pullets I decided to build a second box, this one from plywood and had about a 2.5" lip on the front. Works great at keeping the straw in and I rarely have to add more bedding. I'm going to add a taller ledge to the original boxes and hopefully that will solve our problem!

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
I buy the compact bags of pine shavings at locla feed store and its alot cheaper than buying it at Walmart . LARGE bag for like 5.50 each .... MUST weigh at least 40 lbs.

I have pine shavings thru out the whole coop floor , heavier under roosting area . My nesting boxes are on the floor , SIDE BY SIDE and on complete opposite said of the coop . Nesting boxes are filled with hay and they form their own nest . They do not poop in the hay , so thats a plus .

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
I have always called these Milk crates and DH said NO these are larger and they are liter coke bottle carriers . So , we fill them with hay and they are lined side by side on the floor , we have 8 in one coop and 4 in the other coop . and roosting areas is on opposite side of the coops . Floor areas are filled with pine shavings . Works great .

 

[Yardegg]

Dear BYC'ers,

This weekend my wife and I did some rearranging in the barn so that the chickens can have half and the goats can have the other half. This meant that we had to move our ten-hole front roll-out nest battery. Sheeeeeeesh! I wish I had never bought that thing. It cost about $200 with S&H, and the hens refused to use it until I stuffed the nest holes with straw. This, of course, defeats the design of the nest by not allowing the eggs to roll forward after the hen leaves the nest. Our new chicken house is about 90% complete, but the cold weather has stopped us for now. I'm thinking of selling my commercial nest battery at the sale barn and making something of my own design to go into the new coop. That may sound arrogant, but I don't mean it that way. I think several BYC posts have featured excellent designs in the "Coops" section. I'm leaning toward the "dark nest" designs because my hens seek out the darkest corners of the coop to lay in. What do others think about nest boxes? I'll be looking for your posts.

Yardegg

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
Read my previous post ... I posted a pic of the large nesting boxes that I use . they work great .

 

[mksenoj]

I have the same problem. Now one of them is laying in the center of the chicken run. I have 15 empty boxes. Who knows why.