Won’t lay eggs in nesting box?

[DuckDuckPromise]

Hey there! So the nesting box that we had was admittedly not ideal, but I had to come up with a solution for our coop type (that’s another story) but in a pinch, I used a domed cat litter box with hay/shavings in it… it worked well enough, except it got gross… quickly. The silly chickens in all their scratching glory will scratch the bedding from the coop into the nesting box, because it was sitting on the ground. I set the SAME nesting box they have been using onto a higher surface, and it has been amazingly clean!!! Thank The Lord, The last two days, 4 hens have been laying in there giving the cleanest, prettiest little blessing eggs!!! The other hens though…
I have found 5 different nesting places on the ground the last few days. Yuck! How do I encourage the other hens to do what some of the hens are already doing? I don’t think a fake egg would work, since there are real eggs from the girls who got the hang of it… any suggestions?

 

[McChooky]

Hey there! So the nesting box that we had was admittedly not ideal, but I had to come up with a solution for our coop type (that’s another story) but in a pinch, I used a domed cat litter box with hay/shavings in it… it worked well enough, except it got gross… quickly. The silly chickens in all their scratching glory will scratch the bedding from the coop into the nesting box, because it was sitting on the ground. I set the SAME nesting box they have been using onto a higher surface, and it has been amazingly clean!!! Thank The Lord, The last two days, 4 hens have been laying in there giving the cleanest, prettiest little blessing eggs!!! The other hens though…
I have found 5 different nesting places on the ground the last few days. Yuck! How do I encourage the other hens to do what some of the hens are already doing? I don’t think a fake egg would work, since there are real eggs from the girls who got the hang of it… any suggestions?

In a flock of 15-20 hens you should have a minimum of 5-6 nest boxes.Some nest will be used more than others (some they'll refuse to use) You'll have to retrain them to use the nests by locking them up.(You can remove the ones they don't use )

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

In a flock of 15-20 hens you should have a minimum of 5-6 nest boxes.Some nest will be used more than others (some they'll refuse to use) You'll have to retrain them to use the nests by locking them up

Picky chickens!! Thank you for the advice!

 

[ChookaPete]

Place golf balls into all the nests.

 

[McChooky]

Picky chickens!! Thank you for the advice!

If you only have one the hens will fight over it or lay somewhere else.

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

If you only have one the hens will fight over it or lay somewhere else.

I suppose I’ll be on the lookout for a new nesting box now then! Thank you so much! Have a blessed day!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Some people use 5-gallon buckets laid on their sides. Some of our nests are milk cartons. Be creative!

 

[McChooky]

I found a big wooden box in some construction waste around the time I was making my coop.All I had to do was shorten it.

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

I found a big wooden box in some construction waste around the time I was making my coop.All I had to do was shorten it.

Those are the best kinds of finds!!
Did you get it from a construction site?

 

[McChooky]

Those are the best kinds of finds!!
Did you get it from a construction site?

They were building a Walgreens and it was I a pile of wood to be thrown away. The bench's in my green house came from the same site