When to open egg boxes? 18 weeks old and no eggs YET.

[sebloc]

Cockerel might sit near pullets when they first lay......or he might not.

Chicken won't go into nests because they are cold....unless there is a really strong(strong enough to literally ruffle their feathers) draft blowing right in the roost area.
But they might roost(sleep) in there just because they can....many folks cover up the nests access an hour or so before roost time to deter that habit.

Upon going out and checking on them around 10pm yesterday, from what I could see, there was none in the boxes and they were all on the roost. They seem to like a particular area by the window for some reason.

 

[aart]

Quote: It's good that they are habituated to the roosts....they will hopefully not try to roost in the nests.
Just keep an eye out and nip it in the bud if they start.

 

[sebloc]

I'll keep an eye on them. The only time I can see one sitting in the nest is if one gets shoved off the roost by the window and the rest leave no room for the one chicken. Though there is plenty of roosting space, one side of the roost is loved, and the other not so much.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’ve had pullets lay their first egg at 16 weeks, I’ve had pullets lay their first egg at 9 months. There is no set time that any pullet of any breed will lay their first egg but for most hatchery stock, especially production breeds, that’s often around 5 months. Often, not always. They are all individuals, they will lay when they lay. Don’t expect them all to start at the same time either. Some normally start earlier than others.

I like the nests open before they start to lay. That way, if there is a problem I can fix it before they start to lay. One possible problem is that some might sleep in the nests. Since they poop a lot at night, you don’t want them pooping in the nests, you don’t want poopy eggs. As long as your roosts are higher than the nests and they have sufficient room on the roosts they usually don’t sleep in the nests but sometimes they do. If you run into that problem we can help you fix it. We’d need photos, number of chickens, length of roost area, roost height compared to nest height, things like that.

Another potential problem is that your nests might not be made right, they may scratch out bedding, fake eggs, and real eggs. Often, not always but often, about a week before they start to lay pullets start looking for a good place to lay, they start checking out different possible nest sites. Part of that process is that they scratch to see if they can rearrange things to their liking. If for some reason they scratch out the bedding and fake eggs you can fix the problem before real eggs get scratched out and maybe broken. We make all kinds of nests so it’s not always the same fix, but raising the lip is a typical fix.

I put a juvenile roost over my nest boxes, that comes in really handy when I am integrating younger chickens. It gives the juveniles a safe place to go other than my nests if the adults are mean to them. The top of my nests are a droppings board. Some people freak out at the thought of a chicken roosting over a nest. Since my nests are covered with a flat surface, I find it a good way to take advantage of usable space. The inside of the nests stay clean, I’m good with that.

The dominant chickens get to roost where they want, the less dominant get what’s left over. The part of the roost near the window is the favorite in my coop too. They seem to like that.

Sometimes pullets don’t have full control over laying their first few eggs. They might drop them anywhere they happen to be, from the roosts at night or just walking around. The internal egg making factory is fairly complex with a lot of parts, it’s not surprising that some have to work a few bugs out of that system before they get it all right. That’s why some of the first eggs can be really weird; soft shell, no shell, an extremely think shell, no yolk, no white, double-yolkers, just all kinds of problems. It usually doesn’t take them long to figure this out but don’t be surprised to find all kinds of eggs about anywhere when they start. As complicated as the system is the surprise may be that so many do get it right to start with. Expect the unexpected and be pleased when they get it right.

One reason I like the nests open before they start to lay is that many pullets, not all but many, will make their nest where they lay their first controlled egg. I want that to be in my nests not some random place in the coop or run. That way I don’t have a bad habit to break. I also like a fake egg in the nest, I use a golf ball. Many hens and pullets, not all but many, like to lay their eggs where others are laying. If there is another egg there many seem to think it is a safe place to make a nest. It doesn’t always work but I’ve seen them lay an egg next to a fake egg that got scratched out of a nest before I raised the lip on the nest. When I put the fake egg back in the nest and raised the lip, she started back laying in the nest.

You’ll notice that I often say things like “often but not always”. Some people seem to think that chicken are programmable bots, that each and every one will act in exactly the same way. Not even close to true. They do have tendencies and we can tell you things that usually work, but each chicken is an individual with a unique personality. You just can’t tell with a living animal what any specific individual will do.

I see you are in Connecticut, I saw something about them sleeping in the nests to stay warm that concerns me. Could you describe your coop a bit, especially what ventilation you have. Size of your coop, photos, and number of chickens could help too. You do not have to worry about keeping your chickens warm, you need to enable them to keep themselves warm, much like the wild birds that overwinter where you are. They are wearing a down coat, they can handle cold really well. What they cannot handle really well is a breeze hitting them strong enough to ruffle their feathers. They keep themselves warm by trapping tiny pockets of air in their feathers and down. Those air pockets provide tremendous insulation. If a breeze ruffles their feathers so the air pockets escape they can get cold. Gentle air movement is not a problem, it’s a strong breeze. If they can move to a place sheltered from the wind they usually will so this isn’t a huge risk, but it is a risk. You don’t want them moving to your nests so keep direct breezes off of them.

Something else they can’t handle really well is wet. The main risk with cold is frostbite, not them freezing to death. Wet or humid conditions can lead to frostbite if the temperature is below freezing. You can get a lot of moisture in the coop in the winter from their breathing, from their poop, or from their water, especially if you heat their water. There are people in Georgia that have reported frostbite problems as mild as their winters are. Their coops are so tight the moisture cannot escape. You need sufficient ventilation to get the moisture out without a breeze ruffling their feathers. There are different ways to do that. To me the easiest way is to have openings above their heads so any breezes are over their heads. People further north than you have solved frostbite problems by increasing the ventilation. Yes, ventilation will allow warm air to escape. With their down coat that’s not a problem. That moisture is much more dangerous.

Good luck!

 

[sebloc]

Roost are way higher than the egg boxes. So far no problems in those regards. Thanks.