When should i give access to the nest box?

[bakbakbana]

I have read somewhere to block the chickens access to the nest boxes when they are young. So I did that, I put a cinder block and cardboard to cover the nest boxes. My chicks are 2 months old now and I know they are a few more months away from laying but when should I give them access to the nest boxes and put a mock egg in there?

 

[lazy gardener]

When they start showing signs that laying is getting close: singing the egg song, combs and wattles grow noticeably bigger and get plumper and redder. They may become more friendly. They may squat when you are near them, or if you pass your hand over them, lean over them. (assuming you don't have a rooster). Or you can simply unblock the nest boxes when they are 16 weeks old. I'd opt for that choice.

 

[aart]

14-16 weeks is a good time to open the nests.
Time for them to check them out and to make sure they don't roost(sleep) in there at night.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree. If I were going to have problems, I’d want to know before you start getting poopy eggs so you can fix it. I want the nests open when they start to lay so they have a better chance to learn to lay in the nest instead of forcing them to get in the habit of laying somewhere else.

I’m aware of two potential problems. One is sleeping in the nests. There are different reasons this can happen, but it can be fixed. If you run into this problem you can message me and we can chat.

The other potential problem is that the chickens might scratch bedding, fake eggs, and even real eggs out of the nest. Hens like to scratch around and rearrange the bedding just so. The fix for this is usually to raise the lip holding the bedding in. Often pullets will start searching for a good nesting site a few days before they start to lay. So if you go into the coop and you see the nesting material and fake egg on the coop floor, you need to fix the nest and prepare for your first egg.

I have established layers in my flock so my nests are never closed. I don’t have these issues with new pullets. But for your first flock, it doesn’t hurt to block the nests until they get in the habit of sleeping on the real roosts. But don’t leave the nests blocked too long.

 

[bakbakbana]

Thank you much. I will keep it closed until they are ready and I will look into installing a lip.

 

[GC-Raptor]

With my Golden Comets, they started to squat a week or two before laying.
I didn't put in the nest boxes till I noticed one of the girls was trying to make a nest on the coop floor. The next day she laid an egg.
Next time I would install/unblock nest boxes when they started to squat. Of course if you already have layers in the same coop that's not an option.
As far as installing a lip on the nest boxes, 4 inch is recommended. I have a 3 inch lip on mine and I have had a couple of eggs tossed out, but more so the lighter weight ceramic eggs get tossed, but not frequently. GC