Please advise! Want to nip a bad habit in the bud if possible!!

[Indy acres]

One of my girls has been laying for awhile and she started laying outside the coop she made her own nest so I got rid of that and then she layed in the nestbox, now she started laying on the ground under the roost what's up with that can anyone tell me why?

 

[scarletfever]

Quote:
Are your boxes up too high?

Could be. I'll try lowering them and see what happens. They are about three feet high.

 

[cottage19]

One of our girls consistenly lays on the roost - we finally strung a net under the board to catch the egg and that has worked well - the netting is the type used to keep birds off blueberry bushes - the poop goes right through but the egg is caught and doesn't end up broken on the floor below. Our coop is spacious and there are 4 roomy nest boxes about 14" off the floor but several of our 7 hens prefer a cat litter box on the floor and one of them ofen lays on TOP of the nest boxes

. These girls are spoiled rotten and have about 70 SQ ft of protected coop/run AND are able to roam 10 acres durning the day. Go figure...

 

[LauraG]

Ok I finally got her to lay in the box.

I sat in the coop with them. I lifted Scarlet into the first nest box with the golf balls. She jumped out.

I lifted her into the second nest box, she stayed a minute & I let her jump out.

I lifted her into the 3rd nest box with the golf balls and she stood there. Then checked out the golf balls, then checked out the straw. She seemed to ease into it, stayed a while, even after I left the coop.

Next day, egg in the nest box. SUCCESS!!

The ones who arent laying had zip interest in exploring the nest boxes. I'll do the same with them if I have to.