They all want one box

[FunClucks]

I use 5 gallon buckets on their sides. I've had 3 chickens in the bucket at the same time literally laying their eggs on top of each other. Not kidding! Crazy hens! I pulled one hen out, and there were two more!

 

[FunnyBunny89]

I use 5 gallon buckets on their sides. I've had 3 chickens in the bucket at the same time literally laying their eggs on top of each other. Not kidding! Crazy hens! I pulled one hen out, and there were two more!

Oh my gosh! Literally as we are typing here, I found Mina on top of Red

 

[Mrs. K]

Sometimes it gets out of hand. And you wind up with broken eggs or eggs somewhere weird.

If this starts happening to me, I block off the favored nest, and put 2f fake eggs in each of the other nests. I swear chickens come in and think, 'Oh, look there is some eggs - that must be a good spot.'

However, for the last 9 months, I have had ground laying hens - half the flock. I have always just bedded the floor with waste hay. And they started creating a nest and laying there, under the roosts, which makes it hard to get.

I have taken all the hay out of there, blocked corners, and finally gave in with a box near the door. At least I can get those eggs.

But I have a broody hen, who is due to hatch Sunday - so I need to sweep out the coop and put in fresh bedding so she can have a place for her chicks.

Chickens! They drive you nuts!.

Mrs K

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Sometimes it gets out of hand. And you wind up with broken eggs or eggs somewhere weird.

If this starts happening to me, I block off the favored nest, and put 2f fake eggs in each of the other nests. I swear chickens come in and think, 'Oh, look there is some eggs - that must be a good spot.'

However, for the last 9 months, I have had ground laying hens - half the flock. I have always just bedded the floor with waste hay. And they started creating a nest and laying there, under the roosts, which makes it hard to get.

I have taken all the hay out of there, blocked corners, and finally gave in with a box near the door. At least I can get those eggs.

But I have a broody hen, who is due to hatch Sunday - so I need to sweep out the coop and put in fresh bedding so she can have a place for her chicks.

Chickens! They drive you nuts!.

Mrs K

Sounds like a lot of effort! Chickens sure can create some annoying chores for us lol. But we love them anyway
I'm not sure, but I think adding a window might have helped coax them into the other nesting boxes as they are all nice and lit up now. It's the only thing I've done so far!

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Hello! Just wanted to share a video with you guys that I took of the girls in their boxes I hope you enjoy!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hello! Just wanted to share a video with you guys that I took of the girls in their boxes I hope you enjoy!

As my birds will NOT share boxes I've never gotten to see what it looks like to having one hen practically crawling over another's neck, and the bird on bottom just going "Meh."

 

[FunnyBunny89]

As my birds will NOT share boxes I've never gotten to see what it looks like to having one hen practically crawling over another's neck, and the bird on bottom just going "Meh."

I thought it was funny how disheveled Red looked after the fact too but she tolerated it like a champ!

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Hello folks! Wanted to provide an update here:

I did a few things to try and encourage the hens to lay in multiple boxes.
First, I added a window on the wall across from the boxes to let in more light in the back corner. Had that for a while, couldn't tell if it made any difference.
Second, I added a ceramic egg to the nests and rotated it every day and every couple days to see if it encouraged the hens. So far, it seems to encourage one of my hens, as she tends to lay wherever that egg is sitting, but she's the only one I can tell it has an effect on.
Third, I realized while watching the hens that they seemed not to be enthused about one long row of nests all facing the same direction. Perhaps it didn't feel as safe? So I cut the entire nesting structure in half and now have 3 boxes on one wall, and 4 boxes on the adjacent wall. It actually worked out in another sense, as I was able to separate my feeders and give the hens more room to eat.
Fourth and finally, I figured out how to add another window to the coop, making it altogether brighter and hopefully more comfortable during the day with better ventilation.

Now, I made these changes incrementally, but if I had to guess which change had the biggest effect, I would say nesting box placement. The hens have all now begun to spread their laying and have rotated through every single box as of yesterday!

Idk what it is, but the 3 I moved are now shadowed while the other 4 remain well-lit. It looks like I have a few regulars who like the shadowed boxes better, and regulars who prefer the bright ones. There is some rotation among them but not much!

See photos for reference. *I recently moved the roosts around a bit, so there are two pics that look different.

 

[FunClucks]

Hello folks! Wanted to provide an update here:

I did a few things to try and encourage the hens to lay in multiple boxes.
First, I added a window on the wall across from the boxes to let in more light in the back corner. Had that for a while, couldn't tell if it made any difference.
Second, I added a ceramic egg to the nests and rotated it every day and every couple days to see if it encouraged the hens. So far, it seems to encourage one of my hens, as she tends to lay wherever that egg is sitting, but she's the only one I can tell it has an effect on.
Third, I realized while watching the hens that they seemed not to be enthused about one long row of nests all facing the same direction. Perhaps it didn't feel as safe? So I cut the entire nesting structure in half and now have 3 boxes on one wall, and 4 boxes on the adjacent wall. It actually worked out in another sense, as I was able to separate my feeders and give the hens more room to eat.
Fourth and finally, I figured out how to add another window to the coop, making it altogether brighter and hopefully more comfortable during the day with better ventilation.

Now, I made these changes incrementally, but if I had to guess which change had the biggest effect, I would say nesting box placement. The hens have all now begun to spread their laying and have rotated through every single box as of yesterday!

Idk what it is, but the 3 I moved are now shadowed while the other 4 remain well-lit. It looks like I have a few regulars who like the shadowed boxes better, and regulars who prefer the bright ones. There is some rotation among them but not much!

See photos for reference. *I recently moved the roosts around a bit, so there are two pics that look different.

I am loving your coop setup and am totally jealous!!! It looks really good!

I found that my hens like to hide when laying eggs. I use 5 gallon buckets setting on their sides in the covered run, a brick in the mouth to keep them from rolling, and put an upside down plastic lawn chair over the mouth of the buckets to give the hens a "foyer" and block line of sight for most approaches. Makes them think they're "hidden", and I can move the lawn chair when needed to collect eggs. I know folks have done curtains with fabric or old feed bags on nesting boxes like you have in the past, so if you continue to have any issues, that's one thing to try. Or just a piece of wood or cardboard to block line of sight and force a sideways approach so laying hens can't be seen well by others.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

I am loving your coop setup and am totally jealous!!! It looks really good!

I found that my hens like to hide when laying eggs. I use 5 gallon buckets setting on their sides in the covered run, a brick in the mouth to keep them from rolling, and put an upside down plastic lawn chair over the mouth of the buckets to give the hens a "foyer" and block line of sight for most approaches. Makes them think they're "hidden", and I can move the lawn chair when needed to collect eggs. I know folks have done curtains with fabric or old feed bags on nesting boxes like you have in the past, so if you continue to have any issues, that's one thing to try. Or just a piece of wood or cardboard to block line of sight and force a sideways approach so laying hens can't be seen well by others.

That makes sense! And thank you! We inherited this coop in disrepair, so I've been fixing it up for months. I considered using curtains on the boxes, but I don't think I'll need to anymore.
That's cute that you give them a "foyer" lol.
One thing I don't love about my set up is having to duck under the roosting bars... but I can't think of any other layout that would fit all 15 chickens so it is what it is. Works well, looks nice! Hopefully my back doesn't suffer too much over the years it was worse when the box was one long row, so how it is now is much easier for me, at least.