They all want one box

[Evelynh0924]

I am having the same problem! I have seven hens that I purchased as baby chicks in the spring. I have a coop with 5 nesting boxes. They pretty much have always used the two end boxes and one in the middle. I've never had eggs in all 5! Now, it appears they are all just using one nesting box, except for my two Easter Eggers who have decided they prefer the covered deck on our shed! (I was afraid they had stopped laying because at first I couldn't find where they were laying.) I can't lock them in the coop because I am in South Alabama and it is almost 100 degrees every day. Perhaps when it cools down some, the EEs will return to using the nesting boxes. It's funny though when there is a "waiting line" for the nesting box!

 

[FunnyBunny89]

I am having the same problem! I have seven hens that I purchased as baby chicks in the spring. I have a coop with 5 nesting boxes. They pretty much have always used the two end boxes and one in the middle. I've never had eggs in all 5! Now, it appears they are all just using one nesting box, except for my two Easter Eggers who have decided they prefer the covered deck on our shed! (I was afraid they had stopped laying because at first I couldn't find where they were laying.) I can't lock them in the coop because I am in South Alabama and it is almost 100 degrees every day. Perhaps when it cools down some, the EEs will return to using the nesting boxes. It's funny though when there is a "waiting line" for the nesting box!

We had some escalation today; Pearl had to lay on top of Edna I think Edna has gone broody which really makes this difficult. I took Pearl out and she left because she was done, then Red came in and started to try to get under Edna but Edna wouldn't budge so I had to take her out (she was done a while ago) and she was not happy about it. She hot back in, so I gently nudged her out and she finally left. Now Red trills whenever anyone comes near her lol.

I am going to try something... I noticed the box they choose gets the best light, and the other boxes get progressively more shadowed down the row, so I am going to put in a window that can put light on the heavily shadowed end. Hopefully that's all they need! I'll come back with an update when that's all done.

 

[Susan Skylark]

It isn’t just hens! These are quail chicks all wanting to use the same water bottle NOW with another one five inches away and no line! Birds!

 

[Farmgirl283420]

At one point I had more nest boxes then hens but many of the nest boxes have never been used! lol I just let them work it out.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

At one point I had more net boxes then hens but many of them have never been used! lol I just let them work it out.

Well, I have 14 hens and 7 boxes so eventually, they either have to work it out or I have to do something or else the line is going to be like the DMV the coop needs more light anyway, so we'll see if the window idea has any effect!

 

[abarnangh]

Oh yeah this issue will never go away ha ha. All my girls will just lay in which ever box gets laid in first. Never know which box it will be that day, but all the eggs will always be in one box! I agree that as long as there isn't any bullying it's not much of a problem. Make gathering easier

 

[Evelynh0924]

We had some escalation today; Pearl had to lay on top of Edna I think Edna has gone broody which really makes this difficult. I took Pearl out and she left because she was done, then Red came in and started to try to get under Edna but Edna wouldn't budge so I had to take her out (she was done a while ago) and she was not happy about it. She hot back in, so I gently nudged her out and she finally left. Now Red trills whenever anyone comes near her lol.

I am going to try something... I noticed the box they choose gets the best light, and the other boxes get progressively more shadowed down the row, so I am going to put in a window that can put light on the heavily shadowed end. Hopefully that's all they need! I'll come back with an update when that's all done.

 

[Evelynh0924]

When my hens were beginning to lay, I bought some of those fake eggs and put them in all of the nesting boxes. Once they got pretty good at using the boxes, I removed them. With everyone using the same box, I put the fake eggs back in the boxes and this weekend they used the usual one and one of the others. Maybe they just had a lapse in memory or something! Time will tell!

 

[FunnyBunny89]

When my hens were beginning to lay, I bought some of those fake eggs and put them in all of the nesting boxes. Once they got pretty good at using the boxes, I removed them. With everyone using the same box, I put the fake eggs back in the boxes and this weekend they used the usual one and one of the others. Maybe they just had a lapse in memory or something! Time will tell!

Yeah I cannot for the life of me figure it out! I even added a window to my coop to put more light on the other half of the coop in case those boxes were too dark. Well, like you say, we just gotta wait and see!

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Making progress! I had to put Pearl in the far right box because she was climbing all over Red but she settled! Huzzah!