They all want the same nesting box

[Dlepage]

I’m a new backyard chicken mom and I have 4 chicken hand raised from day old chicks. The just started laying a couple of weeks ago and now they all want the same box…at the same time. Any suggestions they have lots of other options three actually nesting boxes on the ground they never used and now two on the storage bin and a big box between them but the all want the red one under the window.

 

[6BeachChicks]

Pretty much ALL chickens do this

 

[Dlepage]

Pretty much ALL chickens do this
View attachment 2858715

Good to know lol. So much to learn but enjoying every moment lol.

 

[6BeachChicks]

By the way, your hens are adorable.

 

[3KillerBs]

This is 100% normal.

Do you have fake eggs or golf balls in each nest? That can sometimes help convince them that the other boxes are OK too.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

First of all, wow! Your mural/artwork is Beautiful! Thats one happy place to lay an egg!

You can encourage them to lay in another box by putting an egg ( 2 or 3 eggs to make a clutch is even better) in another box, whether real or ceramic. Also, hens prefer to lay up off the ground. (Im sure they instinctively feel safer from predators that way.)

One final thing, if possible it would be best to partially wall off or cover the bins so your hens have more privacy. As a hen lays an egg, her oviduct is partially exposed as the egg passes. If another hen sees the reddish-pink tissue, she may peck and pull it out. I will say no more because its gruesome and fatal, but you do Not want that to ever happen. Keeping the nestboxes dark and/or small enough that only one hen at a time can fit inside to lay is the key.

 

[Dlepage]

By the way, your hens are adorable.

Thank you do have pics of your hens you can post I would love to see them. Ours are so tame they wait for us to sit and all scramble to be first on our laps lol. That’s my lap while I’m trying to have my coffee in the yard lol

 

[Dlepage]

First of all, wow! Your mural/artwork is Beautiful! Thats one happy place to lay an egg!

You can encourage them to lay in another box by putting an egg ( 2 or 3 eggs to make a clutch is even better) in another box, whether real or ceramic. Also, hens prefer to lay up off the ground. (Im sure they instinctively feel safer from predators that way.)

One final thing, if possible it would be best to partially wall off or cover the bins so your hens have more privacy. As a hen lays an egg, her oviduct is partially exposed as the egg passes. If another hen sees the reddish-pink tissue, she may peck and pull it out. I will say no more because its gruesome and fatal, but you do Not want that to ever happen. Keeping the nestboxes dark and/or small enough that only one hen at a time can fit inside to lay is the key.

Thanks so much. I will revamp the laying area tomorrow and get some fake eggs. Could I use hard boiled eggs or will they break them?

 

[Sueby]

& then one day, years later, they will ALL want the one box that no one has ever laid in before & that'll now be the magic box. Till it's not. Silly birds.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Thanks so much. I will revamp the laying area tomorrow and get some fake eggs. Could I use hard boiled eggs or will they break them?

They Shouldnt break them. After all hardboiled are harder than raw.

Are you the artist behind the coop artwork? Eithe way your backdrop is beautiful! There are periodic art contests on byc. If you are the artist, you should watch for the contests and enter!