nesting boxes?

[two early]

Are nesting boxes necessary? It looks like the one hen that has been laying just chose a corner of the coop and leaves them there. Is this not a good idea? All the hens (6) seem to like taking turns sitting in this one corner, only one egg every other day thus far. They are suppose to be about 6 months old, should all of them be laying now? They are free ranging and there is a rooster with them. Am I doing something wrong? I've only been at this for about a month..... Help please.....

 

[AKsmama]

Nest boxes keep the eggs cleaner (most of the time), safer (from chickens stepping on them and from things like rats, raccoons, possums, dogs, and other animals that like to eat eggs), and easier to gather. I personally do not like having an egg hunt every day, and I want my eggs clean, so my girls lay in nest boxes. I think it keeps my layers safer as well- they are in the safety of the coop while they lay, which can take a while some days, instead of sitting on the ground somewhere while a predator spots them. If your layers free range, are you sure they aren't laying outside? In a bucket, under a bush, in a box, etc?

Anyway, those are my reasons for having nest boxes. Besides, one of mine went broody rather unexpectedly, so at least she is in the coop brooding, instead of under a storage shed or wherever she might have made a nest outside. . . where a predator may take her quite easily. At least they'd have to really work to get in my coop, and get past hot wires and a Great Pyrenees to boot.

 

[dewey]

Sometimes they just lay where they want, no matter what. Mine have a favorite corner, too, and sometimes lay there. If you wanted to, you could try putting a nest box there where they all like to lay now, then move it up a little every few days until it's off the ground where you want it.

 

[two early]

Thank you.... I think I will try a nesting box in the coop. Is there a trick to get them to use it? Also what does "going broody" mean?

 

[Laurajean]

I look at it like this: Could you live in a one room house? Yes. Would you want to? Probably not. Nest boxes keep eggs cleaner, they also give hens a sense of privacy, since they don't always get along. I'm in a cold climate, so they act as added draft protection. I also have several Silkies, who prefer to sleep in the boxes as opposed to roosting on the bar. I think it's just like an extra room in a human house, serves a specific purpose, like a bathroom or a bedroom for us would, and I think it must add to their comfort and feeling of safety. I would ask, why not nest boxes? Think of it as improving their living space.

 

[gryeyes]

Nest boxes ARE more for our convenience than for the chickens, who really don't care where they lay. That is, they pick odd spots, which aren't odd to them. Nest boxes make it easy for us to go only to one place to gather eggs, and they also protect the eggs from foot traffic (and possible breakage). Keeps the eggs cleaner, usually. Hens do prefer privacy for a laying location, and that's what nest boxes are meant to provide, a little room in in which to lay eggs. Safely.

The trick most folks - including me - use is to put golf balls in the nest. They look sorta like eggs, and hens tend to lay where other hens have found safe places to lay. "Oh, that looks like a good spot, there's another egg already there!"

Going broody is what happens when a laying hen experiences a hormonal change and is driven to set on a clutch of eggs to hatch them. You can't make a hen go broody, it either happens or it doesn't. When they are broody, they sit on the nest - with or without eggs under them! - and flatten their bodies out to cover the nest and the eggs in the nest. They puff their feathers up to look bigger and badder and will make growling noises, maybe even peck at anybody close to them, warning them away from the family they're trying to produce. They do not leave the nest except for one, maybe two times a day, to poop a REALLY BIG AND SMELLY POOP, drink some water and eat some food. They don't roost, they stay on that nest 24/7. They also get a sort of glazed look in their eyes, like they're in a trance. The Broody Trance. They do not expend much energy while they are brooding, so they can survive without much food during this time.

Some folks, before they learn much about chickens, think every hen will lay on her eggs and hatch them. This is not true. The majority of hens lay their eggs and leave them, day after day. For their entire lives. Some breeds are more known to have hens go broody than others, but there are always exceptions.

I always recommend folks visit (and bookmark) this link, which is very informative about chicken breeds: http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

 

[Laurajean]

Quote:
Aww, man.... are you saying I wallpapered the nest box walls with cartoon baby chicks with speech blurbs above their heads that say "You can do it!" for nothing???

 

[tuesdays chicks]

I would put the nest box right in that corner where they like.