When should my pullets have access to the nesting boxes

[Princess Lay- A]

My pullets are 14 weeks old , when should I open up the nesting boxes so they can get used to them?

 

[WingItRanch]

Are they roosting to sleep? The main reason to restrict access to nest boxes when they're young is to prevent them from sleeping and pooping in them. I would think by 14 weeks, they should be good.

 

[Shadrach]

My pullets are 14 weeks old , when should I open up the nesting boxes so they can get used to them?

Now.
At three and a half months old they are unlikely to be at the point of lay, but unless there is a particular reason you've section the nest boxes off I prefer to have the space available in the nest boxes. It can be handy for example for a pullet who gets bullied at roost time to sleep in. Sometimes hens will just choose to sleep in a nest box, perhaps because they feel ill, perhaps just wanting their own space for a night or two. It's very rare in my experience for a pullet or hen to make nest box sleeping a matter of habit.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I think mine were 15-16 weeks and starting to really redden up when I added the hemp bedding and fake eggs to the nest boxes. The boxes were just bare floor before that.

I would have done it sooner if any were early-laying production breeds. Also, mine had slept on roosts since night 1 at 7 1/2 weeks and have stayed put ever since.

It was very cute occasionally seeing the Easter Egger in a box, pulling hemp up and tucking it around her body to make her nest. She started laying 2 weeks later, and other than the first egg that “fell out” onto the coop floor, they’ve all been in the nest box.

 

[Karlkurla Chooks]

I would allow them access to the nesting box from the start. Just clean up any poop! That way they see the safe place to lay eggs and learn from early on.


When one of my hens was broody but had no fertile eggs, I gave her two newly hatched chicks from the stockfeed shop. For the first few weeks I kept them in a tent I nicknamed the "maternity ward", but found it was not necessary as their mother fiercely protected them from the rest of the flock. So I started letting them out - their mother took them to roost inside one of the nesting boxes while the rest of the flock roosted up on the perches. I just cleaned up any poop the next morning.

Pretty soon though the chicks were roosting with their mother up on the perch! Then after a few more weeks they roost with each other but away from their mother.

Meanwhile I had some 3-month old pullets who would see the hens laying their eggs in the nesting boxes. By the time they reached six months old they learned to lay in the nesting boxes too. I only ever found three 'rogue' eggs in odd places away from the nests.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Agree. I have never restricted my pullets from having access to the nests, and have never had a bird develop the habit of sleeping in the nests. The roosts are above the nests, and the roosts are where everybody sleeps. Cheers!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Like the others I'd have them open now. The only issue I can think of is that they sleep in the nests. If that is going to be a problem you need to find out now so you can fix it before they start laying in poopy nests. If they sleep in the nests come back on here and we can discuss how to fix it.

Another reason for opening them up early is that a pullet will often start looking for a nest a week or so before she actually starts to lay. I want the nests available so they can consider them. I do not want to teach her to lay somewhere else because the nest is not open.

Part of that looking for a nest involves scratching. If you find the bedding in the nest scratched out onto the coop floor you may need to raise the lip on the nest higher to stop then from scratching out the bedding and future fake eggs or real eggs. I consider identifying a potential problem so I can fix it before it becomes a problem beneficial.

I cannot think of a single reason to leave them blocked. If they are going to sleep in nests blocking them may be part of the retraining process but I'd want to do that before I teach them to lay somewhere else.