Temporary nest box on the floor?

[aart]

Have had more than few first eggs laid on the poop board.

 

[Beer can]

I have elevated nest boxes in one coop, two coops with just a old dresser drawer for nest boxes, on the ground half filled with sawdust. Works great, fits two birds at a time.

 

[frostic]

I look forward to reading the responses from the experts.

Some of my girls lay in the boxes just fine and others are very random about where they lay theirs. One particular bird seems to just pop the egg out wherever she happens to be....middle of the coop floor, outside in the grass, or behind a bush. And I have another that delights in playing find my egg. She holds that sucker in until I let them out to Free range and runs to find an obscure hidden spot. She is seriously funny because if I happen to be home & follow her around and shoo her back towards the coop she will eventually give up and lay in the box.

SHES THE EATER EGG CHICKEN. Shes just hiding the eggs for you to find! thats adorable.

 

[frostic]

I have elevated nest boxes in one coop, two coops with just a old dresser drawer for nest boxes, on the ground half filled with sawdust. Works great, fits two birds at a time.

Thats what i use as nesting boxes too. and my first egg was found today in their favorite box that they always sit on at night.

 

[lazy gardener]

It's not uncommon for new layers to "have an egg fall out" just about anywhere. This is a new sensation and a new experience. Especially, those soft shell eggs. (I call them rubber eggs.) B/C they lack a shell, they are harder to pass.

With your gal who is laying on the floor, I would block off her corner. I would set her in the nest box on a regular basis, especially after some one else has laid an egg. I would also stuff that box full of hay to give it a "homey" feeling. Hens love to "re-arrange" the hay. Shavings are no where near as much fun!

When a chicken squats, she's inviting a roo to breed her. Since you have no roo, you can "ruffle" the feathers at the base of her back, and she'll walk away from the experience with a smile on her face.

 

[lazy gardener]

I had a pullet who insisted on laying in a corner under the perches. I tried blocking her corner. She laid beside the blocking. I tried blocking a larger area. She moved to a new corner. I blocked all 4 corners, then put garlic scapes in all 4 corners. Her eggs smelled like garlic. Finally, one day, I caught her in a corner, looking like an egg was pending. (hens stand up when they lay an egg) I scooped her up and tossed her in a nest box. She freaked and tried to exit. I body blocked her, and didn't let her out. She settled, and laid her egg. Problem solved. She never misplaced an egg again.

 

[CannedMonster]

So, one of my PBR pullets has turned into a trooper. She started laying about 2 1/2 weeks ago. She took one day off and had one soft shell egg within the first 3 days she started laying. Since then, she's been like clockwork and been laying a PeeWee sized egg each day - I think she's up to about 12 in a row. I have a community nest box built into the wall of my coop, about 20" off the ground, but she's decided she prefers a spot on the floor in the corner.

About a week ago, I put some straw in the community nest box to make it a bit more inviting. A few days later, I added a few fake eggs just to see if she'd give the nest box a whirl. So far, nothing doing.

OK, this morning, there was a soft shell egg on the poop board, and I still got my egg from 'ol reliable, so I now have one of my seven remaining freeloaders getting ready to join the dark side. What I am wondering is if I should put a temporary nest box on the floor in the corner where I've been getting my one egg a day? My thought is that it'd be best to at least get them going on the idea of using a nest box, and when the egg laying becomes critical mass (the rest of them decide to join in) then work on moving from the nest box on the floor up to the elevated nest box. I'm not able to be at home when she's laying, so catching her right now and placing her in the nest box doesn't seem like a possibility. As more start to lay, I'd like to protect the eggs better than just on the floor. I know I'm just making the assumption that the next one that starts to lay will join the one on the floor, but it seems like a viable possibility.

Any suggestions?

My birds lay in plastic bins.
Perhaps you could try something like that?
I’ve even seen people use those covered cat litter boxes for their chickens.

 

[Chad Oftedal]

I’ve had that happen. I moved the water to that spot to eliminate that option, she then used the nesting box . Try rearranging , I’d try a nest box mounted on the wall off the floor , just to give options .

Hard to figure them out , do you have enough boxes ? Some don’t want to share

I just have the one community nest box that I built into the wall. I added a pic in a later post that might help show the setup.

 

[Hopperkiller]

After taking 2 ratsnakes out of my nest boxes the chickens quit laying....... so i thought. I found a nest in the sand beneath the roost way too far back to make these creaky old bones to go after daily. I changed the bedding and added some golf balls to no avail. I then took an echo chainsaw carton with all its bright coloration and made sure it was sealed up and put in that corner. They avoided it and began laying again in nest boxes. That might work for you by blocking the areas they want to use but i would also pin back one of those curtains on your nest box and make a larger entrance.

 

[frostic]

Here's a picture of the nest box - good call @aart, I should have added the photo to start. From this angle you can't see the fake eggs in there. One of my RIR just squatted for me now when I went to check on things. My PBR had her egg in the usual spot, so she's done for the day. To give perspective where the one egg is being laid currently, it's in the corner of the coop which in this picture would be the lower left edge here. She's probably only 18 inches or so from hopping up on to the edge of the nest box, so she's near it, just not using it. To help keep this all in perspective, this isn't a huge deal keeping me up at nights, I just wanted to expand my knowledge if there was anything I could be doing to help encourage more. I'll work on catching one and gently placing them in the box to check it out. I'm happy that a RIR squatted for me, that's the first I've gotten to see and experience that.

View attachment 1464841

Is that the hole for them to go into? that seems a bit small and maybe why they are not using it.