Nobody puts Baby in the corner!!

[Chickassan]

Ok! Make your dividers a bit taller and curtain off the front. I'm thinking they're a bit "open" for the hens liking and making it more box like should get your eggs back where they belong.

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

Ok, Chickens Really, if you aren't going to help at all, they don't say anything.

Those nest are a bit open.They should be a bit lower and darker, I think!Also, Adorable hen!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Photos of the nests might help, but if they have been laying for a while in the nests and they’ve switched that’s probably not the issue. How old they are, how many nests you have, the number of hens or pullets you have, how long they have been laying, if this is an established layer or a pullet’s first eggs, all these things could have a bearing on it. With chicken behaviors it’s sometimes difficult to determine what is actually going on or why.

Something like this is pretty common when they first start to lay. The vast majority of pullets lay in the nests where the others are laying from the start, but occasionally I have one of them do exactly what you describe. I had a pullet just start laying do that about a week ago.

I’ve also had hens that were established layers and laying in the nests stop doing that and “hide” a nest somewhere else. That might be a corner of the coop, somewhere else in the coop like under my nests (they are pretty close to the coop floor), or outside somewhere. I don’t know why they do that, probably different reasons, but it happens. With living animals you don’t get any guarantees as far as behaviors, about anything can happen and you don’t always get an explanation.

I built a couple of nests that I can lock a hen in if I want to. That’s actually come in handy for different things. When I have one laying where I don’t want her to, when I catch her on that nest I remove her and lock her in a real nest until she lays her egg. I’m not real gentle when I do that. Sometimes I can just pick them up but often I lock the coop door and use a fishing net to catch her. It’s OK with me if she thinks that is not a real safe place to lay eggs.

Usually it takes them about a half hour to lay that egg, but I’ve had some take three hours. Usually I only have to do this once but I’ve had a few that it takes a repeat performance.

With all that said, it sounds like a pullet started a nest there and some of the others decided yeah, that looks like a good place for a nest. That’s not unusual behavior either. They like to lay where others are laying.

Why is there poop in the nests? Are they sleeping in there? If so that’s a problem I think you need to solve. Photos of your nests and roosts and the age of your chickens might help us come up with a solution that fits your situation. I don’t know if this has a bearing on the other problem, but it might.

 

[Chickassan]

@Ridgerunner There are pics.

 

[twilightgecko]

those are far too bright and open..

when i had to put my girls on the screened in porch, i just layed a black paint pail on it's side with a bit of shavings from the coop and they went right in to lay.. they like the dark, smaller space.. when they are in the coop, mine too just lay in the corner too because i don't have proper nest boxes either..

 

[Bunnylady]

@Ridgerunner There are pics.

I'll bet there weren't when Ridge started to write that post. That much material takes a long time!

I have birds that sleep (and poop) in the nests, and lay eggs in them, too. Nasty!

 

[MageofMist]

I use a sheltered cat bed that my cat never used for my silkie hens, and they love it. Had to weight it down though or else the nest would 'eat' the hens that tried to climb in it. Amusing to walk in the room and see the catbed running around.

 

[aart]

If they were laying in them before, they should be fine.
A new layer started a new habit by laying in the corner.
Block the corner with a bucket or something and put fake eggs in the nests.

Sleeping and pooping in the nests is another issue and should be resolved,
IF that's how nests are getting 'dirty'.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

If they were laying in them before, they should be fine.
A new layer started a new habit by laying in the corner.

This is exactly how hidden nest have occurred at my house. Especially because new layers are often lower in the pecking order. But I keep track of how many eggs I get each day. So when I have a sudden drop that last several days in a row, I go hunting. Sometimes I have to casually hang out and act like I'm not watching the line of girls pacing the new site and cackling at somebody to hurry up and get out! We've got an acre with tons of blackberry bushes for hiding nest nice and deep.

But after a few "invasions" of that nest site, they will usually ditch it and go back to their original spot (or look for another hidden nest).

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chickens tend to sleep on the highest point available. You’ll often see discussions in here about what sizes and shapes the chickens prefer, but in my experience that doesn’t matter. What matters is how high they are. Part of the roosts are higher than the nests but that’s not the entire story. How many chickens you have, what ages, and are the younger ones sleeping in the nests? Even with plenty of roost area I’ve regularly seen less mature chickens sleep somewhere else, even lower areas. A lot of bullying can go on when they are on the roosts. Are they only sleeping in the top nests? A little more information could help.

How many total hens and pullets do you have or plan to have? What is the physical size of those nests in feet or meters? I can work with either. I don’t know if you need all those nests or not. Part of the solution to them sleeping in the nests might be to take down the top row of nests, I don’t know if you need them or not. But if part of the problem is younger chickens being bullied on the roosts they may just move to your lower nests.

Some hens will lay in open nests like that, some prefer a more hidden area. Dad’s nests were not covered at all, but the sides and front were all raised about 6”. The hens used them. But if they can roost above those nests they can poop in them.

One thing I’ve found to help get hens to lay where I want them to is to put a fake egg in the nest. I use golf balls but wooden or ceramic eggs can work too. This will not make those chickens stop laying in the corner but it may encourage some not to leave.

Depending on how many laying hens and pullets you will have and the size of those nests, another possible solution might be to turn that top shelf into a droppings board and install a roost over that, leaving that ladder type roost where it is. There are a lot of “if’s” involved in a lot of this, but this configuration would protect your nests from poop and give immature chickens a place to sleep that is not your nests.