Stopped using the nesting box

[teamheiser]

We have 4 chickens. They have all been using their nesting box until a few weeks ago. I noticed what looked like blood in the nesting box. We cleaned it out, but now the girls won't use the nesting box. They all use the same corner of the coop. We got a wooden egg but still no luck. Should we move the nesting box to the corner they are using now? Any advise is welcome!

 

[sammyh312]

Mine did the same exact thing when i got lazy about keeping hay in the boxes. I just cleaned out the corner they began using, then cleaning the next boxes out, I just make sure i keep lotsa hay in em now. After that, plus a fake egg in each box, theyre back to using the next boxes.

 

[TwoCrows]

If something freaked the girls out, like blood, it is possible that they are afraid to use the box. Moving the box to another corner is an option. Have you tried placing them in there when you find somebody laying in the other corner? I recently put in a new box and nobody wanted to use it. So I would actually put them in it when they were looking for a place to lay. Sounds like a pain in the rump, LOL, but eventually it worked and somebody layed an egg in the new box. After a week or so, the others thought this box was a safe place to lay and all started to use the new box.

Just a thought if you want to go thru all the trouble.

 

[sammyh312]

If it helps, if you are new to chickens, follow my advice. I got to where i was overthinking everything, and worried over minute details, like i had to do EVERYTHING right. A few years back someone on here told me to just chill out and not worry, that as living creatures with minds of their own, chickens will sometimes do wierd things - LOL. Best advice i ever got! I stayed tuned to this site, made a common sense change here and there, and stopped worrying and just let things happen naturally. Since then, me and the birds are much happier. You will pickup on things though, like me realizing the hay wasnt fresh and clean. After that, they went right back to their boxes. Until i realized it though, i didnt fret over it, i just got my eggs out of the corner.