Will they all lay in the same spot?

Curlita

Songster
11 Years
May 22, 2008
158
2
121
Seattle, WA
I have four pullets. Once has been laying for a little over a week, and the other three are about to start, I think. The first to lay made a little nest in the corner of the run instead of using the nest box (which for whatever reason my chickens can't seem to figure out how to get into and out of) . She has laid all her eggs in the same location. I don't really mind her not using the nest box, so long as I know where to find her eggs.

My question is, will the others follow her lead and lay in the same place or will they come up with their own laying location that I'll need to figure out?
 
Hi there!

In my experience, they do seem to follow each other as to where they lay their eggs. More specifically, wherever there are eggs already laid, they like to add to the pile.

I would reccommend taking the eggs your girl is laying in the run and moving them to the nest box. Be sure everyone sees that that's where the eggs are. Leave a couple there for a day or two and see if they get the hint.

The nice thing about getting them to lay in the nice box you provide is that the eggs stay cleaner and are less likely to get broken. If they get broken and your girls discover how delicious they are, you may have an egg-eating problem on your hands.

Hope that helps!
 
Thanks, Tracy!

I think I might have to provide them with a new nest box... the one I have it built into their coop and they can't seem to figure out how to get up to it (or the roosts near it). I put one of them in the nest box to show it to her and the next morning she was still in it -- stuck! I had to show her how to get down.

Not exactly mental giants....
 
LOL...certainly NOT mental giants ;-) But they make up for it in looks and personality, don't they?:)

I had a similar problem when I added a box that was a little hard for them to get to...I added a sort of "landing pad" (a 4" wide board laid flat) at the opening and now they jump/fly right up. I also had good luck propping a wooden plank up to it as a ramp.

Do you have any coop pics posted?
 
Not yet -- I don't have any interior pics at all. I should get on that. I was thinking about making a little ladder for them, like the one to get into the coop. I've put them onto the roosts before and they seem very excited and fascinated, but not enough to stay on them. I think maybe they don't have enough headroom to hop onto them, if that makes sense.
 

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