As I have said before, I have been getting 2 eggs each day and having to throw one away. My girls like to sleep in the nest box and lay their eggs on the coop floor – it is fine when Meg does it but Victoria obviously hasn’t got the hang of it and seems to drop them from a great height causing them to crack on the hard wooden floor.
I have tried to fix this – first I thought they were laying there instead of the nest box because I had been blocking it off at night. I stopped blocking it off but unfortunately they now sleep in the nest box but refuse to lay there. As that didn’t fix it I decided to put a bit more bedding on the coop floor, but for some reason the girls have kicked it away before laying leaving an nice spot of bare wood to crack their eggs in.
My newest solution has been to make a nest area for them in the spot that they always lay in. I screwed two pieces of wood together into an ‘L’ shape and pushed it against the walls so that it forms a rectangle and will hopefully stop them from spreading the bedding around too much. I will let you know whether it works or not tomorrow!
I thought it would be instinct for chickens to lay in the nest box, I am suprised how difficult it is for them to get the hang of it. I am sure they will eventually though.
I think it is instinct for chickens to do the opposite of what you want them to do!