opening the laying boxes

[feltingfrenzy]

Greetings,

The chickens will be 20 weeks old Jan 1st (Barred Rock and Silver Laced Wyandottes). I've just made the final adjustment to the timer so the lights come on at 2 AM. If I remember correctly, the hens need two weeks of 15-hour light to trigger the laying.

Until now, I've kept the laying boxes, and their attached landing board, covered so that no one could roost on the board or sleep in the boxes. Should I wait for the first egg before uncovering the boxes?

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

 

[sumi]

If the hens start laying and the boxes are still covered they are going to find another spot and you are going to have to retrain them to use the boxes. If they look ready to lay (nice red combs, squatting etc) you should open the nest boxes and put some fake eggs or golf balls in there to show them what it's for.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Personally I would have opened them well before now. If they are going to roost in the nesting boxes I'd want to know long before they start putting eggs in that poop so I could figure out why they are roosting there and fix it.