Won't Use Nestbox!

[Madamegato]

Let us know how it turns out. I'm interested to see in case I end up with this problem. Of course mine are way too young to tell yet, but it's good info!

 

[Aemelia]

All I had were bright yellow golf balls and my girls don't use the nestbox do you think it could be the color of the balls?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
You know, I wouldn't put it past chickens to dislike a certain color but it really shouldn't cause a problem.

Chickens are creatures of habit. Once they develop a bad habit it takes alot of patience and persistence to break it. I have a three year old hen that likes to sleep in nestboxes. I broke her of the habit when she was young by removing her and putting her on the roost each night; took nearly forever. Every once in awhile she'll try sleeping in the nestbox again. She knows it's not allowed because the minute she sees me coming towards her she climbs out and goes to the roost. It's a battle of wills and my will is much stronger than any hens could ever be.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

I went out and one pullet was sitting in the box. I grabbed the other one and put her in the coop, then locked the door. I checked in on them again and there's no egg and now they're eating.

They're gonna stay in there until they lay! Or at least until the bad pullet lays.

The plastic easter eggs are still in there and are fine without the tape.... As far as "destroying" the nest...I'll lift up the cover on the grill. It hangs down to the ground and I think the privacy of that really appeals to them.

Oh, and I don't have any golfballs in my house. Should I ditch the easter eggs and go and collect some rocks? Of course, that would mean stealing the rocks on the sidewalk....

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Are your nestboxes private? Some folks rig a curtain to hang in front of the boxes to give the hens more privacy. I use covered kitty litter boxes as my nestboxes. They seem to appreciate the privacy the boxes give them.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Quote:
Are your nestboxes private? Some folks rig a curtain to hang in front of the boxes to give the hens more privacy. I use covered kitty litter boxes as my nestboxes. They seem to appreciate the privacy the boxes give them.

No, they don't have anything in front of them, but the other girl lays in them just fine. They've got slanted edges, so I really can't hang anything in front of them. Also, the first egg she laid was in the corner of the cop, so that's even less private. I guess the water scared her when she knocked it over and she doesn't want to lay there anymore?

I lifted up the cover and to make it even more unappealing, I put a large rock and a pointy metal spike thing there. It's not really sharp like a nail, it's like a pyramid with a star base. Don't really know what to call it--a wedge?

It's just pokey, won't harm her if she still REALLY wants to lay there.

ETA: The box has walls on both sides, and it's covered on top by the poop board. So the only thing missing is the front, which I can't really see a way to cover.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Hmm...

They usually lay around 3:30, it's 4:00 now and no eggs. One was sitting in the box earlier, but hasn't gone to lay yet. I guess having the other one walking around the coop didn't help with the peace.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
They're young and new to laying correct? It's not uncommon for their laying schedule to be erratic at first.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

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They're young and new to laying correct? It's not uncommon for their laying schedule to be erratic at first.

#1 is a month into laying, this would have been day 3 for #2. They both laid yesterday.

I gave in at 6 PM and let them out. If they didn't lay yet, I guess they weren't going to. I was at least expecting #1 to lay, though, since she sat in the box today. Having #2 locked in the coop was too disturbing, it seems.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Both laid an egg this morning. I let them out around 8:30, there was an egg from #1 by the waterer! WHAT?? I figured that all the newspaper #2 had thrown into both boxes made her not want to lay there anymore. I let them out, and after a while, #2 started showing nesting behavior on the poop board.

THIS IS WAR.

I cleaned out the coop, then REMOVED the poop board and the roost. Tossed a rock in the corner where she had also considered it a possible nest. I watched the yard for 3o minutes. Each time I heard scratching, I removed her from wherever she was trying to nest. Until, finally, she nested in the box.

Then she left.

After a while, I heard more scratching, and she was in the box again. Wait a bit, and heard a "thump". Ran out, and there she was in the box with an egg! The bloom hadn't even completely dried yet.

I'm pretty sure that #1 will start in the box again, now that the newspaper is gone. I haven't put the poop board and roost back yet--I'll do that sometime in the afternoon.