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?

 

[FrostRanger]

I would place fake eggs anyways and keep removing eggs from the old spot

 

[50-45-1]

How many hens and how many nest boxes?
Fake eggs may help as you dont want to leave real eggs in there. I use golf balls as this tells the others. "See, this is a safe and good place to lay"
If you dont have enough nests, the girls may seek other places to lay. One preferred box may not be enough choices for your flock.
Get some more cat crates, or design your own. Some folks use plastic buckets laid on the side. I have seen old egg crates and other ingenious re'-use of other things as nest boxes.
Good luck!

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

How many hens and how many nest boxes?
Fake eggs may help as you dont want to leave real eggs in there. I use golf balls as this tells the others. "See, this is a safe and good place to lay"
If you dont have enough nests, the girls may seek other places to lay. One preferred box may not be enough choices for your flock.
Get some more cat crates, or design your own. Some folks use plastic buckets laid on the side. I have seen old egg crates and other ingenious re'-use of other things as nest boxes.
Good luck!

I honestly lost count! But last I counted, I believe it is 13-14 girls. Y’all know how chicken math goes! And yes, I only had the one litter (nesting) box out! So maybe that’s what’s going on! Impatient girls didn’t want to wait their turn!
Would you suggest putting the other nesting box close to the first one, or somewhere else in the coop? Like the opposite side maybe?

Thank you so much for your help!!

 

[FrostRanger]

I honestly lost count! But last I counted, I believe it is 13-14 girls. Y’all know how chicken math goes! And yes, I only had the one litter (nesting) box out! So maybe that’s what’s going on! Impatient girls didn’t want to wait their turn!
Would you suggest putting the other nesting box close to the first one, or somewhere else in the coop? Like the opposite side maybe?

Thank you so much for your help!!

I don't think it matters too much as long as they are in a safe spot, place them wherever is good for you!

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

I don't think it matters too much as long as they are in a safe spot, place them wherever is good for you!

Thank you so so much! Time to figure out another nesting box!

 

[StinkyAcres]

Ideally you'll want about 4 nesting boxes for 14 hens. Can you stack some milk crates or something like that?

 

[DuckDuckPromise]

Ideally you'll want about 4 nesting boxes for 14 hens. Can you stack some milk crates or something like that?

Oh wow, that many! Hmm, okay, I’m not sure where to get ahold of any milk crates, but I can definitely look! Most of the nesting boxes I’ve looked at are attached to the coop in some way, which I can’t do… so something stacked like that would be great! How many would you stack?

 

[FrostRanger]

Oh wow, that many! Hmm, okay, I’m not sure where to get ahold of any milk crates, but I can definitely look! Most of the nesting boxes I’ve looked at are attached to the coop in some way, which I can’t do… so something stacked like that would be great! How many would you stack?

Another idea would be to find one of those cube shelf thingies from somewhere like goodwill and place material in that

 

[StinkyAcres]

Oh wow, that many! Hmm, okay, I’m not sure where to get ahold of any milk crates, but I can definitely look! Most of the nesting boxes I’ve looked at are attached to the coop in some way, which I can’t do… so something stacked like that would be great! How many would you stack?

Google milk crate nesting boxes for ideas. You can stack them pretty high if you have room, but I would attach them together with zip ties and to the wall with screws for stability.