Where do your hens nest?

[Mattemma]

I came across a booda cat litter box at goodwill.It comes with a lid.The hens now all lay in that.Before they would lay in milk crates.I also used an old wicker laundry basket,but they were pooping on the top of it.

Lol, I just noticed that I wrote egg crates instead of milk crates.Boy that would be convenient place for the hens to lay!

 

[Marianne]

 

[GardenWeasel]

Most of my hens lay in the nest boxes. My Astralorp "Queenie" always lays on the riding lawn mower if she can get to it while free ranging. She will follow my husband when he is mowing and try to hold it until he's done. I always have to check the tractor before locking up. She will pace like a crazy girl if she can't get out.

 

[Dawn419]

Recently, our chickens got into this mode where the girls decided to lay just anywhere and that escalated to "we're mostly going to roost ON the coop instead of in it".

Found this just before I got them "all cooped up".

One of them managed to lay this egg just right so that it was sitting in one of the openings of the plastic lattic panel that is layered between the wired cattle panel and the tarp.

 

[savingdogs]

I came across a booda cat litter box at goodwill.It comes with a lid.The hens now all lay in that.Before they would lay in milk crates.I also used an old wicker laundry basket,but they were pooping on the top of it.

Lol, I just noticed that I wrote egg crates instead of milk crates.Boy that would be convenient place for the hens to lay!

I'd love for mine to be trained to lay their eggs in egg crates!

Mine seem to like to lay in the SAME nest. I have 25 chickens and six official nests and then one duck nest in the duck coop which is accessible to them all. Lately, they have ALL been laying their eggs in the small nest for the ducks! Go figger!

I have found things in the nests that the chickens have MOVED there, like round rocks. I don't have any idea how they managed to do that and wish I had a chicken-cam to catch them working those big round rocks into there (they had to go up the ramp!).

 

[Marianne]

Dawn, that pic is hilarious!
Well, officially I am down to 7 hens as of last night. One didn't come back from free ranging. We have sorghum planted on one side of the property, milo on the other side so there's plenty of cover for predators. The rest will have to be corraled until after harvest. Two of the girls ended up being roo's too, so my SIL took care of those for me. At the rate things are going, I'll get chicks again next spring.

The two higher nesting boxes seem to be enough. Most of the time they lay in one, occasionally in the other. No one has seemed interested in the two that are below them on the floor. I finally brought the golf balls back into the house.