question about chickens using the nest boxes

[DaveD]

I just recently started getting eggs. I have been getting 1 egg pretty much every day. When the first egg appeared in the hen house, I finished the nest boxes and have been getting the one brown egg in there since. Since then I only get the one egg each day, except for 1 day I had 2 brown eggs and on another day I had a brown egg and a green egg (yes, I have easter eggers). I keep the girls in the house/run all morning and only let them out in the afternoon to runaround the backyard. The other day I thought I lost abird, but she reappeared a while later. Today she disappeared again and I finally found her, sitting on 5 eggs - brown ones. I am wondering about the easter egger that layed an egg once and nothing since (plus the other girls) Obviously, at least one is not laying in the morning and doing it outside. How do I go about getting them to lay in the box? When I do get them laying in the box, will they continue to lay them there, or is it a crap-shoot?

-David
2 BR (1 lays), 2 SS (1 caught sitting on a bunch of eggs in the yard), 2EE (1 green double yolk egg last week and nothing since)

 

[33yardbirds]

My Rocks were singing in the woods so my wife put them in Lock-up. They didn't get out for 2wks. No more laying in the woods! Oh, and I did hate seeing them confined like that, but when the girl is right, she's right. I wouldn'ttell her that.

 

[mama2many]

Yup Yup....Lock them up. I had to leave the eggs in there all day to get my pullets to stop laying under the coop. I was a wreck hoping they wouldn't break. You could leave golf balls in the nest, I've heard of that. But usually a bit of confinement straightens them out. Best of luck! I just found 11 eggs under my coop and I know how frustrating that can be....