When to open up nest boxes?

[Debutante]

I used the kids old plastic Easter Eggs Filled them with some gravel but thinking about it now sand would have been easier, and glued them shut. Works great!

Hmmm. That's a good idea. I have some pastel-coloured kids Easter eggs around here that I could use. Those ceramic eggs are expensive on Amazon.ca. You just saved me ten bucks (for only two ceramic eggs)!

 

[lazy gardener]

As for ceramic eggs, I bought 2 nice ones for $4 at TSC. And you can also find them at hobby stores, most likely for much less money. I bought some recycled golf balls (very inexpensive) and also use plastic Easter eggs. I use a rock to approximate the weight of an egg, wrapped in paper toweling (so it doesn't shift) and then glue the egg shut. The girls seem to prefer the nest with the ceramic eggs. I have marked them so I can discern them from the real ones! They are very strong, and I couldn't imagine how one could get broken.

 

[FlyWheel]

I used the kids old plastic Easter Eggs Filled them with some gravel but thinking about it now sand would have been easier, and glued them shut. Works great!

That works great if you have Easter Eggers, but what about other breeds?

 

[lazy gardener]

That works great if you have Easter Eggers, but what about other breeds?

It gives the brown egg layers something to aspire to. "Hmmm.... there's a purple egg in the nest. And Matilda lays a green egg. And Esmarelda lays a blue egg. Perhaps, I'm not trying hard enough. Maybe THE NEXT egg will be pretty!"

 

[ChickNanny13]

I put the peachy colored ones in at first. Then decided to put more colors in but then my hen went broody so out came the eggs, by then they had learned where to lay. Then I had to break the broody

 

[rosemarythyme]

Honestly the only reason I use golf balls is when we bought this house, the former owner left behind a couple of golf balls on the side of the house, along with a small wooden dog house. After spending $2 or $3 in screws, the dog house became a nest box, the golf balls became the eggs.

 

[AlleysChicks]

I've always had my nest boxes open. From the time I put them in the coop. The only one that I've had trouble sleeping in the boxes is my BO. And that's only in the past 2 months during the day. She screams bloody murder when I attempt to kick her out.

I put ceramic eggs in the boxes when my pullets turned 15 weeks. Glad I did because they played hockey with them and would bury them. After they got that out of their system I've not had any trouble.