I've had 6 breeds of Laying hens in this coop over a 12 year ...All of the different flocks have all used the nest boxs. This batch of birds (plumouth rocks) just will not use the nest boxs to lay eggs in. They lay directly on the floor of the coop.

I tried fake ceramic eggs, golf balls ...nothing in the box but straw, wood shavind beddeng. Tried lowering one box down next to one corner where they lay. Nothing!

???????

Try putting a split curtain in front of the box.
Sometimes a girl needs privacy.

Zim

Try a cardboard box with nesting material in it, with a fake egg or two, on the floor in the area where they like to lay their eggs now. Just leave it there.


If they see in there and try the box, they may like it, and you can gradually raise it higher till they go in at the normal height as the rest.

I know many like curtains over the entrance too, Patrice I believe has run that experiment , and her girls use the box with the curtains best, for privacy.

Ha ! Zim beat me to it !

They are a big bird if they are the white ones, are the boxes big enough for that size of a bird.

They are the barred/ plymouth rocks
Less than half the size of the totes

The coop is more of a pig-sty but here are 3 of the 4 egg box totes. . Like I said I took the fourth one and lowered it down to the floor near where they nest in a corner and they still don't use it I guess I will try the curtains they kick out all of the bedding every time I put it in there in the afternoon.

I have had several other breeds for 2 years at a time and all those other breeds use the nest boxes no problem I might turn these into chicken soup and get some more this year.

Maybe try a smaller nest box, sounds funny but those barred like tighter quarters to lay in. Least ways in my experience. Maybe they feel safer, idk lol. Creamed chicken over biscuits might be a option.

Put some hay in them totes don't be so tight! LOL

No hay in the totes puts the chickens in a fowl mood.

Mine have holes in the sides for light so maybe they need a little light!

I had one like that once. Would never lay in the box. Would let them out in the morning and she would go lay in the bushes. During the winter when they'd be cooped up she'd lay on the floor. After she turned into stew we were still finding old smelly eggs around the yard.


Some girls are just stubborn .....

Put about a 4 or 6 inch board across the front to hold the straw in and ill bet they will use them

My boxes were much cozier and had a 1x4 across the bottom and a lip over the top. They need to feel secure.

X2 on the curtains! They all like that, but I've never seen Plymouth Rocks get pickier than other breeds here. That's odd. Usually, curtains help with the kinds of hens that want to go hide their eggs somewhere besides out in the open. Hard to tell about hens who will lay their eggs right on the floor! They like to feel like their eggs are hidden in a nest, so they all seem to choose boxes with curtains if they have a choice. I conducted an experiment and put curtains on half of my nest boxes and every hen stopped using the ones without curtains and they all shared the curtained boxes.



That day a Rhode Island Red and a Barred Plymouth Rock both decided to pack themselves into the same nest box at once!

Lol cute

15 hole box each level has a a 1X2 in the front they use it 99.9% of the time very seldom find a egg on the floor maybe if one sneezed. LOL

There are a lot of good responses.

Pullets, hens that have just started laying, frequently lay on the floor. Once their eggs are full sized, hens almost always use nest boxes. If your hens just started laying, they might start laying in the boxes, on their own, once the eggs are a more viable size.

Keith

They've had straw and wood shavings dozens of times...they kick it out onto the coop floor in a couple hours

my daughter raises chickens and sells eggs. other birds too. not sure just what all they have. im happy there are cowboys and chicken people in the world. I like to eat the fruit of their labor

Chickens are interesting for sure. Tell me why when there are 4 identical nest boxes that all 6 (insert # here) birds
will lay in the same box.

Zim