hen laying problems

tractorjoey

hi i have hens laying on the hen coop floor and i have a hen laying box attached to the back of the hen coop and they wont lay eggs there any ideas???:)

theparish

Try a cardboard nest box with straw or wood shavings on the floor near the vacinity of the nest box they should be using.Leave a couple of marked eggs in this box for a week or so.This should get them used to laying in that particular area.Then move it into the "real" nest box,my own nest boxes are only 18 inches of the floor so they can see them.The main thing with nest boxes is enough of them,that they are big enough,have them partitioned from one another and bedding.But there will always be one or two stuborn so and so's who will have you searching high and low for eggs.

Rockery Woman

Most of my hens are kind enough to lay in their nest boxes, but one of mine lays eggs outside in the grass in exactly the same place every day or so, in the spring and summer months.

Mine are quiet enough this time of the year though, very sporadic egg-laying in the winter and regular, usually daily in the summer months when there are longer daylight hours.

Do you have a light in the hen-house? Do you feed them layers mash/pellets all year round? Just curious as I have been keeping hens for years but always looking for new tips and ideas.