Temporary nest box on the floor?

[snow5164]

[QUOTE I also got to "ruffle the back feathers" of my squatting RIR out in the run tonight. She seemed to enjoy the back scratch, and she was definitely happy to see me when I entered the run as she pretty much ran right up to me[/QUOTE]
That’s great she ran up to you ..she’s probably seeing you as a food source , just one thing though. I’ve heard that you should only scratch /rub their chests , scratching their back and then they squat is a submissive position , maybe someone else can explain why the chest only? I can’t remember.....

 

[Chad Oftedal]

So I have an update to share today. We finally got our first usable egg laid in the nest box today. Due to work and family visits, etc., I hadn't gotten around to setting up a temporary nest box. I just taped the one flap up as suggested here, and have been running with that.

Yesterday, in the evening when I went to check on them after work, I discovered that the straw in the nest box had been heavily rearranged. The fake eggs were moved out of the center, and off to the side. But, they were in the middle of a carefully constructed circle. So, one of the girls decided to make an impressive nest in the straw, and while doing that, either intentionally, or by luck, the fake eggs ended up in the depression in the middle. Also, in the back corner of the nest box, was a soft shell egg. Argghh! So close! It's OK, I took it and brought it in to the house and showed my boys, and they were each able to hold it, and we talked about egg development and how it was neat to see that it was a perfect little egg, just missing the hard shell around it.

Today, when I got home, my oldest son asked if I had put any real eggs in the nest box. I told him I hadn't, and he said that that meant we got our first egg laid in the nest box. He had already collected the egg, but when I checked the nest box, the fake eggs were turned over so I could read the writing on them, so a hen had definitely been in there again today. Yes, I really am that way in that I need to put the fake eggs in the nest box with the writing side down. Sigh.

My theory is that with yesterday being the first day that all 8 pullets laid, that one of them was trying to find some more private space (7 of them laid in the coop, so at some point there had to be multiple birds in there trying to decide who was going to lay where) and figured out the nest box. That's just a guess on my part. I need to finish the electrical in there so I can get my camera hooked up and get some video of the bird whose laying in the nest box and is going to get an extra helping of mealworm treats for being such a good girl!

 

[New2Chicks97]

So I have an update to share today. We finally got our first usable egg laid in the nest box today. Due to work and family visits, etc., I hadn't gotten around to setting up a temporary nest box. I just taped the one flap up as suggested here, and have been running with that.

Yesterday, in the evening when I went to check on them after work, I discovered that the straw in the nest box had been heavily rearranged. The fake eggs were moved out of the center, and off to the side. But, they were in the middle of a carefully constructed circle. So, one of the girls decided to make an impressive nest in the straw, and while doing that, either intentionally, or by luck, the fake eggs ended up in the depression in the middle. Also, in the back corner of the nest box, was a soft shell egg. Argghh! So close! It's OK, I took it and brought it in to the house and showed my boys, and they were each able to hold it, and we talked about egg development and how it was neat to see that it was a perfect little egg, just missing the hard shell around it.

Today, when I got home, my oldest son asked if I had put any real eggs in the nest box. I told him I hadn't, and he said that that meant we got our first egg laid in the nest box. He had already collected the egg, but when I checked the nest box, the fake eggs were turned over so I could read the writing on them, so a hen had definitely been in there again today. Yes, I really am that way in that I need to put the fake eggs in the nest box with the writing side down. Sigh.

My theory is that with yesterday being the first day that all 8 pullets laid, that one of them was trying to find some more private space (7 of them laid in the coop, so at some point there had to be multiple birds in there trying to decide who was going to lay where) and figured out the nest box. That's just a guess on my part. I need to finish the electrical in there so I can get my camera hooked up and get some video of the bird whose laying in the nest box and is going to get an extra helping of mealworm treats for being such a good girl!

It is exciting when they finally “get it” and lay where they are supposed to, isn’t it? Hopefully the rest of your pick it up quickly.

Mine are finally consistently laying in their boxes or the hay tunnel nests I made for them. I am super proud of one of our EE girls at the moment. She has come back to her favorite nesting spot from free ranging 2 days in a row to lay her egg! Victory!