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

[LauraG]

I got my first egg yesterday which is great!

BUT-- it was in the poop board......

They have 4 beautiful nest boxes in the coop filled with straw and golf balls! Yikes- I dont want this to become a habit!!!

I put the egg back in the nest box. Is this common? Will they get the idea?? Any suggestions for me??? I really dont want them egglaying from thier roost!!

 

[Lollipop]

Not normal, but it happens. It`s common for new layers to have mishaps of different kinds. Just give her a few days to get it right. You might wanna limit your golf ball "nest eggs" to one or two......Pop

 

[newchicksnducks]

I think you have a case of "Ooops, what in the world was that"-itis!

I don't believe the poor girls know what is going on when they first begin to lay. Often the ones dropped on the droppings board will be soft shelled too. I think they feel they are passing a big poop, not an egg. It should get better with time, and hopefully they will start using the nesting boxes soon. My first layer insisted on using the coop floor. She continued to lay her lovely tan egg in a corner of the coop. If I placed an obstacle in her corner, she would use another corner! Two weeks later, I had 4 more girls begin laying on the same day - all in the nesting boxes

The next day, my floor layer used the box and continued laying there from then on. Give your girls a little time to get the hang of it.

 

[OregonChickenGal]

Yes, it does happen when they just start to lay. They'll get the hang of it.

 

[LauraG]

Thanks for the responses--

I came home from work today & theres another egg- in the run......

I placed Scarlet in the nest box and she just jumped right out...... oh man I dont know what to do.........

 

[mamabigbird]

Sometimes my older biddies do this too. Yesterday I found two broken eggs in their bedding under the roosts. One was blue shelled and the other one light brown so I know two different hens did it.They are all mature birds and have used the nestboxes lots, but for some reason decided to plop them out onto the floor. There are 6- 15 week old teenagers in there now that aren't laying yet but I think they may be a disturbance to the older ones.

Who knows what chickens think, eh?

 

[PunkinPeep]

When my first girl in this flock began to lay, she would do it on the roost. But she knew what she was doing because she would position herself so that the egg would balance next to the wall on the supports for the roost boards. I found the egg there several days in a row. After getting advice from folks here, i watched her to see when she was getting ready to lay, and when she got up on the roost to lay an egg, i picked her up and blocked her into a nest box. I don't remember what i used, but you could use a piece of fencing or something. Anyway, my point is that once she laid her first egg in the nest box, i didn't have to train anyone else. They all followed suit.

 

[scarletfever]

I've had almost the exact opposite happen. I had two hens that had been laying in one of the laying boxes for several weeks. Then another hen started laying, but she always did it on the floor. As more started laying, they took to the floor too. Now they ALL lay on the floor (even the ones that had been in the box) and the nest boxes go totally unused. I've tried everything I know to do but can't get them back in the boxes. I think I might have to take the boxes out, build some new ones and put them back in. I don't know why that might work but it's all I can think to do.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Quote:
Are your boxes up too high?

 

[Rocky Top Chick]

I have girls that lay in the nest boxes, but for the past month they have decided to lay in each corner of the coop. As long as I know where the eggs are I don't worry. I guess they just wanted a change of scenery.