Nesting boxes & pecking order

[Yabadabadoo]

Good morning! I have a flock of 16 chickens, ages 21-26 weeks. As of right now I think I have 7 layers (i am getting 5-7 eggs a day). My coop is 8x8 and the girls free range all day in my grassy, treed yard. We have six nesting boxes and four of them are getting used. There are definitely preferred boxes, but I am happy they are not all piling into one! One of my youngest birds, a speckled sussex, has taken to laying in the pellets under the roosts (and under the poop boxes, so kind of under a shelf). It’s fine…we use terramigo wood pellets on the floor and shavings in the nesting boxes. But I am wondering…is she doing this due to her place in the pecking order? Should i add some nesting boxes under or just leave it be? Honestly I am happy they all seem to be laying in the coop, but it does feel a little pathetic . Thoughts about chicken laying behaviors? (Chickens are bigger now than in the color picture of the clean coop, but image shows the perches and poop boxes Veronica is laying under.) other pics are from ChickenTV (our cameras) and of some of our flock in the yard.

 

[the_peanut_coop]

Good morning! I have a flock of 16 chickens, ages 21-26 weeks. As of right now I think I have 7 layers (i am getting 5-7 eggs a day). My coop is 8x8 and the girls free range all day in my grassy, treed yard. We have six nesting boxes and four of them are getting used. There are definitely preferred boxes, but I am happy they are not all piling into one! One of my youngest birds, a speckled sussex, has taken to laying in the pellets under the roosts (and under the poop boxes, so kind of under a shelf). It’s fine…we use terramigo wood pellets on the floor and shavings in the nesting boxes. But I am wondering…is she doing this due to her place in the pecking order? Should i add some nesting boxes under or just leave it be? Honestly I am happy they all seem to be laying in the coop, but it does feel a little pathetic . Thoughts about chicken laying behaviors? (Chickens are bigger now than in the color picture of the clean coop, but image shows the perches and poop boxes Veronica is laying under.) other pics are from ChickenTV (our cameras) and of some of our flock in the yard.

Good morning! I always thought that the general rule was four birds per nesting box...

 

[Yabadabadoo]

Good morning! I always thought that the general rule was four birds per nesting box...

Yeah, just got two triples although at the time I had 18 birds (one was secretly a roo, and the other a much older bird from my prior flock who has since passed). It is funny though as with the cameras I can see them badgering each other for preferred boxes (“hurry up in there!” )

 

[rosemarythyme]

You could probably try to train the one bird to lay in a nest, but if it doesn't bother you too much and she's consistent about laying in that spot, not sure if I'd bother breaking her of the habit, since it's not the worst spot for her to lay.

If you want to break her of it you could try using cardboard or clutter to block off her preferred nest site, OR you could try this, if you have the time to spy on her when she goes to lay:

Now this isn't practical if you don't have time to stalk them, but what I did was I learned the problem bird(s) laying schedules, and when they went to their preferred spot to lay, I'd go and pick them up, stick them in a nest box, and barricade them in using my arms to cover the exit. 30-60 seconds was all they needed to calm down and start exploring the box and decide that maybe it wasn't such a bad place to be. They each started reliably using the boxes after that.

Alternatively, some folks design "doors" on their nest boxes so birds can be locked in, which basically does the same as above, but forces the bird to stay in the nest box (whereas once I see them exploring and sitting down in the nest, I leave them to it and walk away).

 

[aart]

Give her time.
Use fake eggs in the nests.

 

[Yabadabadoo]

@aart yes, I have golf balls in the nest, I was more wondering whether my speckled sussexes were laying under the roosts because maybe sussexes are more inclined to nest on the group, or because they are lowest in the pecking order with my flock. I will happily have them lay there and am grateful they are laying in the coop, so it isn't that it is disruptive to me...just being an obsessive chicken stalking mommy

 

[Yabadabadoo]

You could probably try to train the one bird to lay in a nest, but if it doesn't bother you too much and she's consistent about laying in that spot, not sure if I'd bother breaking her of the habit, since it's not the worst spot for her to lay.

If you want to break her of it you could try using cardboard or clutter to block off her preferred nest site, OR you could try this, if you have the time to spy on her when she goes to lay:

Now this isn't practical if you don't have time to stalk them, but what I did was I learned the problem bird(s) laying schedules, and when they went to their preferred spot to lay, I'd go and pick them up, stick them in a nest box, and barricade them in using my arms to cover the exit. 30-60 seconds was all they needed to calm down and start exploring the box and decide that maybe it wasn't such a bad place to be. They each started reliably using the boxes after that.

Alternatively, some folks design "doors" on their nest boxes so birds can be locked in, which basically does the same as above, but forces the bird to stay in the nest box (whereas once I see them exploring and sitting down in the nest, I leave them to it and walk away).

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I agree that where they are laying now is totally fine, and in the world of laying under things, I will take this spot! I have plenty of time for chicken stalking...well, maybe not time, but I have cameras up and I am actively trying to figure out who is laying to help me keep track of health and so on. I *think* two of the speckled sussexes are laying under, which really makes me wonder if they feel insecure in the nesting boxes (that the slightly older and higher on the pecking order chickens will harrass them) or if they just simply like to nest on the floor. Chicken Life!?!