I made our girls nesting boxes 3 days ago and not one golf ball has been moved. We have 2 EE, 2 RIR, and 2 BR. All about 20 weeks now. Did your girls take to the boxes right away? Tim
How old are they? Mine didn't take to boxes at first. They layed all over the place for the first 1-2 weeks, then figured out what they were supposed to do in the boxes. Hope this helps.
patience....patience.... My girls waited until 23 weeks to give us any eggs, and didn't really show much interest in the nest boxes/golf balls, etc until just a day or two before they actually laid the first egg. Are their combs and wattles bright red? Do they 'squat' when you touch their backs or get close? Those are good signs. Mine started laying about 2 weeks after they started to squat.
Be thankful, if they discover them too early before laying, then they just sleep and poop in them and that's not what you want. when they are ready to lay, they will start looking for a safe, quiet, dark place to lay
Thank you all. All have bright red faces but the EEs are not as red as the others. Only the EEs do not squat, the other 4 do. We have given them what they need and we will wait it out. I thought they would explore the boxes, but I see that is good they are not. Should I continue to let them free-range my backyard in the evenings closing in on laying time? We let them out for 2-3 hrs every evening to browse the yard and they pace the fence line after 6 PM or so.... Thanks again, Tim
another thing i noticed for signs of layers...my roo only mounts the girls that are laying so far! and they do squat. i think one was 'practicing'. she kept getting in a nest box, setting and then checking underneath. she'd get out of the box, in the box (rinse and repeat!) finally, voila! the next day she layed! and again today! and mine took right to the boxes...used golf balls also.
Ours have just started laying They are about 17 weeks old, so as far as age goes, keep waiting. We put golf balls in the boxes and that helps a lot. Our roo mounts the girls but they all look alike so I can't really tell if he is only mounting the ones who are laying. However this behavior only started within the last week so it is a good sign to see. One more thing, when they are about to lay they make a very loud, long squawk. Our girls will go in the coop, check out the different boxes, pick one, scratch around a bit, then sit.