New egg laying problems

[humblehillsfarm]

My chicks don’t free range, they have their own run. So both hens that are laying go into the coop where the nesting boxes are. The problem is one goes into the box to pay, the newer laying one won’t go into the nesting box. She just goes to the corner of the coop and lays.

Any way you can put golf balls, easter eggs, or some other egg-sized object into several nesting boxes? I see you said you have them, I just wasn't sure how many fake eggs you have.

 

[SamJ]

Any way you can put golf balls, easter eggs, or some other egg-sized object into several nesting boxes? I see you said you have them, I just wasn't sure how many fake eggs you have.

I have two in the boxes

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I have two in the boxes

And how many boxes? Is that two in one box? What I did, because I'm cheap, was blow out some of my eggs and put the empty shells in boxes. Hens are triggered by seeing many eggs especially. So if you could have 1 or 2 eggs in at least three nesting boxes, that could help. The blown out eggs are more fragile, they lasted about 2 weeks before getting broken, but they did the trick for the most part. (Full disclosure though, if they break and eat an egg, there is a small chance they can get a taste for eggs, but in two years I personally have not had that happen.) I had the one hen that still laid in the yard occasionally, but after a month or so she stopped. It seemed like she had trouble recognizing the need to lay until it was too late.

 

[rosemarythyme]

So here's my solution, which is a bit of a time sink but if you're around enough during the day to make it happen...

Try and figure out the problem bird's laying schedule (if you know the approximate time she laid on one day, you can usually guess when it'll be the next day). When she goes into the coop and sits down to lay, pick her up and put her in the nest box, and block off the box entrance. I use my arms to bar them in but you could use something else if needed. Wait until the bird starts exploring and considering the nest box for possible use, then slowly back off and see if she stays in there. If she doesn't seem inclined to leave, you can leave her alone and check back later to see if she laid in there.

An extreme version of this would be to lock the bird into the nest box when she is supposed to lay, but that still requires that you have some idea of her schedule so she doesn't stay locked up for an extended period of time.