When do I open my nesting box inside the coop?

[KTay11]

I have 5 (well 4 right now because one wandered off tonight) 13 week old chickens. I have the nesting boxes blocked off right now because I didn’t want them to form bad habits and get it gross for no reason right now.
When should I uncover it and put a decoy in there?

 

[2ndTink]

I'd do 17 to 18 weeks. Some high production breeds will start laying at 18 weeks, I'd open them at least a week before.

 

[SilverBirds]

I've never closed my nest boxes before. As long as your girls are roosting at night I would leave the boxes open so they can explore. Most hens start laying around 20 weeks old, but some production breeds can start laying as early as 16 weeks, so you'll want them open in 2-3 weeks anyways.

 

[mcdze]

i will remove all the bedding and only leave one or two going if theres pullets in the coop ... theyre gonna use them for a toilet and kick them up so i can just spray them out if theres no bedding ..if all you have is pullets yeah, remove bedding from all of them, block them off etc ... once you notice an egg in the dirt or something, then id open one or two up, and add more as needed .. general rule of thumb is a nestbox can support 3 hens without issue .. i dont keep more going than i need, its just opportunity for messes to clean up and breeding pests ..

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have 5 (well 4 right now because one wandered off tonight) 13 week old chickens. I have the nesting boxes blocked off right now because I didn’t want them to form bad habits and get it gross for no reason right now.
When should I uncover it and put a decoy in there?

I've had a few start laying at 16 weeks. Often, about a week before they start laying, they look for a safe place to lay. Not all of them do but many look ahead. So I would want them open by 15 weeks of age with a fake egg. That may help them start laying in your nests instead of making a nest somewhere else.

I understand you only have these young chickens, no older ones already laying, so you have no reason to keep the nests open so the older ones can lay.

My reasoning is about the opposite of yours. I want those nests open from the start. If your roosts are higher than the nests then the odds are very high they will not sleep in your nests once they stop sleeping on the coop floor. If they are going to sleep in the nests I want to know early so I can train them not to before I get dirty poopy eggs. Sometimes some can sleep in the nests. If yours do, get back so we can help you fix that.

Most of the time them sleeping in the nests is not an issue. I don't like wasting my time worrying and fretting about something that is unlikely to happen. If it does happen, I want time to fix it before it causes a problem.