New layers - Not laying in the nesting box

[jschmi]

I have 6 chickens and they are now about 26 weeks old. The egg laying just started for the first time about 2 weeks ago. I am only getting one egg every 2-4 days.
I am not sure which one is laying or if it is multiple since I am only getting one at a time.

My concern is that not all of them are laying and I am not sure if it's due to a heath condition or they are just not ready to lay yet.
3 of my chickens are Rhode Island Reds, and one of them has a very full and red comb while the other two have pale and short combs. See photos attached (the short combs look paler in person than in the photos).
The other 3 are Golden Wyandotte's and they appear to have healthy red combs.
I read online that a pale comb could mean anemia or worms, but I am not sure how I would be able to tell that or what to do about it.

For the one that is laying, they are not laying them in the nesting boxes, they are laying them on their roosting bar and the eggs are landing on the sand trays I have below the bars and the eggs are cracking from the fall.
I have two nesting boxes attached to the coop, one with pine shavings and one with a faux grass nesting box insert, as an experiment to see which they prefer.
They around about 12" by 12" each. I put fake eggs in there to show them that is where they should lay them but that isn't working.

Any ideas/advice?

 

[Yardmom]

The girls with the pale combs are probably not laying yet. It is possible your wyandottes are not laying yet either. If your hen is laying her eggs on the roost she is not looking to put the eggs in a nest. Hopefully after she matures a bit this will change.

 

[WingsysRoost]

How deep is the bedding in the nest box? Mine like to really scratch around and create a nice deep nest.

They will likely start using the boxes more as they mature, too. I found that mine did not have much interest in the boxes at first but they did get used to them. The decoy egg will hopefully help with that.

The ones with the pale combs look like they aren't laying, to me. That's how my Barred Rocks looked before they started laying. If they are otherwise healthy, I personally wouldn't be concerned by that.

If you're in an area with cold weather, that may be a factor as well. I find mine do slow down in the cold especially with the longer, darker days.

 

[jschmi]

The girls with the pale combs are probably not laying yet. It is possible your wyandottes are not laying yet either. If your hen is laying her eggs on the roost she is not looking to put the eggs in a nest. Hopefully after she matures a bit this will change.

How deep is the bedding in the nest box? Mine like to really scratch around and create a nice deep nest.

They will likely start using the boxes more as they mature, too. I found that mine did not have much interest in the boxes at first but they did get used to them. The decoy egg will hopefully help with that.

The ones with the pale combs look like they aren't laying, to me. That's how my Barred Rocks looked before they started laying. If they are otherwise healthy, I personally wouldn't be concerned by that.

If you're in an area with cold weather, that may be a factor as well. I find mine do slow down in the cold especially with the longer, darker days.

I have probably 3-4” of shavings in the one nesting box at the moment. I will add more shavings to see if they want to make a deeper nest.

They do otherwise seem healthy, so I am trying not to worry. I just find it weird that the one has had a larger redder comb for weeks now and the other two are still short and pale.

I do live in an area that gets cold, I figure I am lucky to get any eggs at all right now since they are maturing in late fall

Thank you for the advice. I appreciate it!

 

[Dakar2009]

Mine keep digging out the nesting box material, just leaving the decoy eggs in there. They are making circles in the coop materials now and one laid her first egg today right in the poop under their roosting bar. Really great spot, lol.

I hope what read above is true, that as they mature (do any of us really "mature"), they'll start using the boxes.

 

[jschmi]

Mine keep digging out the nesting box material, just leaving the decoy eggs in there. They are making circles in the coop materials now and one laid her first egg today right in the poop under their roosting bar. Really great spot, lol.

I hope what read above is true, that as they mature (do any of us really "mature"), they'll start using the boxes.

I can confirm that one of my chickens is now using the nesting box after not using it before so I believe the maturity thing is true! Also I added more shavings to the boxes so the could nest deeper as was suggested above, that may have helped too.

One of my other chickens has started to lay as well and she has been kicking the sand around in a circle in the sand trays I have under their roosting bar and laying her eggs there. I assume she is trying to make a nest to lay .

Hopefully they will all learn soon