Newbie question on golf balls

[mk4lh]

I'm a military brat that has lived in the city more than the country and this is my first time raising chickens. So my question is; when I set up the nesting boxes I followed the advice I had read here and put in golf balls to help the hens figure out where to lay. On three different mornings I have found at least one of the golf balls on the floor of the coop. Only about 1/3 of my hens have started laying and I collect the eggs faithfully. I orginally had 2 golf balls per nest and since they started kicking them out I have taken one out of all of them. They haven't kicked any eggs out as of yet. Are they trying to tell me that they don't need the golf balls anymore?

 

[M To The Maxx]

May be they don't think they have enough room to lay with two golfballs in the egg boxes.

 

[Bantimna]

Or may be they don't like golf balls

 

[mk4lh]

They had been laying eggs with the golf balls just fine in the beginning. And it only seems to be in the morning that they will kick one out before they've been let out of the coop. (at 7am)

 

[obxWaMi]

This is a newbie response, so forgive me if I'm totally off base....
I thought the golf balls were just to give the a nudge in the right direction and that once they began laying where you wanted them to--in the nest boxes--you could do away with the golf balls all together.

==Michelle

 

[PortageGirl]

It's because the golf balls are round and rollier than eggs. If you watch them in a nest, they sit, readjust, snuggle, shuffle, wiggle etc etc before they are settled -juuuuusssstttt- right to lay an egg. The golf balls are round, so they get moved around more and get rolled out. Now you know why eggs are that odd shape, one end bigger than the other and so wobbly.

 

[KnitswithChickens]

Maybe they're telling you they need tiny little chicken clubs and a putting green??

 

[boxermom]

Once everyone has started laying, can you take the golf balls out?

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

Quote:
Love it!!!!!

 

[centavo71]

So far, my hens have laid in every box except the ones I put a golf ball in! The balls just gotta go!