nests

[Myst4]

Hi, just wondering if anyone could tell me or help me figure something out. I have 20 hens..and 7 nests. They used to lay their eggs in all of the nests, but now they prefer to lay in only one nests,rarely 2. I have gone in to collect eggs and there would be 3 or 4 hens trying to lay in that one nest. Any suggestions to why they are doing this? All of my nests have the same amount of straw in it(of which they seems to take it out for some unknown reason)Although, 5 of the nests are a bit smaller, but that didn't stop them before.
I don't know if I should build new nests or what should I do to encourage them to use the other nests.

Thanks for any advice, Carrie

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Some of my hens do the same thing...They pick a favorite nestbox and rarely go into one of the others...I just gather the eggs more often so they won't break them or start an eating egg pattern!...I just let mine alone....

 

[farm_mom]

My hens did the same thing!! 10 nest boxes and all the eggs are in 3. They play favorites. They're also sensitive to the light. They prefer to lay in the dark. My hens quit laying in the boxes on the west side of the coup because the sun hits them first thing in the morning. Some burlap or something simialar hanging in front of the boxes may help.