Laying eggs on the coop floor

Hey guys and gals! I've got one Americauna in my flock - her name is Babyface because she looked like a chick in the face for far longer than the rest of the birds. She's my only pastel egg layer and my customers LOVE buying her blue-green eggs. The problem is, she won't use any of the TWELVE nesting boxes I have for my flock of 25. I caught her laying the other day. She buries her head in the corner of the coop! It was so cool because I actually got to see the egg being laid. The main problem is that the corner she's chosen is right under the roost, so it's the dirtiest place she could have picked. Her eggs, even the one I picked up 30 seconds after she laid it, get poop on them and stain. I'm hesitant to sell customers eggs that have stains, even though they're clean, and so we eat a lot of her eggs (and others that I can't get looking pretty) and sell the beautiful ones.

What, if anything, can I do to get her to move to a nesting box? One of the box rows (four boxes each) was originally part of the coop and is the preferred location for most of our birds to lay. It's about 4 feet off the ground. The other eight are across from each other and are much closer to the floor - about 1 1/2 feet up. I was thinking if I could catch her at it again, I could move her to a nesting box, but I don't want to stress her out if that's not going to work. Anyone had a similar problem, and is there anything to do about it?

P.S. I've attached my "ghost chicken" picture. I think she moved her head too fast, and she ended up looking see-through! (Not Babyface - I think she's a RIR).

It can be a real pain in the butt, but if it were I, I think I would provide a peice of plywood that would cover her and catch the poop. Some birds just like to use the floor, and at times it can be very difficult to retrain them...Lol...Hay

I agree. I was going to suggest you put a covered nest box in her favorite corner.

Yup, I've got the same problem, and it's a blue egger... Really a pain, cause she has no favorite place, just where ever she happens to be...

love the pic. I got one last week like that

Well, it looks like maybe, just maybe, we'll be moving. I'll be reducing the flock substantially, but I will be able to FREE RANGE!!! This is very much in the idea stage, so nothing solid, but if we can get it, it'll be 15 acres with a huge pond and a barn! Keep your fingers crossed!

Sounds wonderful - good luck!

We lucked onto a very old nest box idea. My SIL's dad had some nest boxes last used on their farm in the 60's. They are basically a box. 3 feet wide, 8 feet long & about 18 inches high at the front. The top is slanted, so the back is about 28 inches high. Part of the top is hinged so you can open it to pick eggs. The only access for the hens is in the middle front. A square hole about 12 inches x 12 inches. There is a board on each side of the hole going to the back of the box. They stop about 12 inches from the back. It's an amazing nest box.
Our hens are just starting to lay. Most are using these boxes. They go in, lay they egg & come out. No poop inside, no hens spending the day or night there. Full of straw, all the eggs are very clean.
Our old open nest boxes were a mess. Hens threw the straw or shavings out, pooped in them, spend the whole day in them & roosted on the edges at night.

Years ago I had lots of hens. I had a factory roll out nest box that used the same principle. It was a box with a slanted roof & entry holes on each end. 300 hens, that one nest box & no eggs on the floor!

Hens like to lay where it is dark. So I imagine that is why this system works so well.

We have a few Americanas, older than the other hens. They all lay in the nest box.

Good Luck,
Bernie

I'm trying hard to visualize what you've go there, Bernie! I think I've got it - so they won't stay in the dark all day, so they come out and you just lift the lid to get the eggs. That's pretty cool. We have four that are simply open square boxes about 6 inches high, no top. Those are their favorite, and they do exactly what you said - kick the straw out and poop all over.

The other 8 have the slanted top, and a lip in the front, so the hay doesn't get kicked out so much, but they don't really lay in those too much, so that may be why. We probably get 75% of our eggs in those open topped boxes. I've attached a pic of a Buff Orpington in the open box (clearly NOT her egg!).

If we move, I'll definitely look into constructing what you've described. It seems super clever.

I just realized the ghost chicken is also in that same box above. Here's the other nest, though you can't see the whole thing. This is my one remaining Crested, Eddie, and she's super sad and lonely since her BFF Principesa was taken by an opossum two weeks ago.

Went & took a few pics.
This is one of the boxes.

Inside. This hen should have went farther in.

The other box in another area. This is an old double corn crib. That is why we have so many rooms!

I love the wing patterns in the dust - it looks like artwork! LOL I was picturing it right, though the holes are smaller than I would have thought. My you have a large flock! I'm at about 20 now, and I think I"m going to stick with that until I start to lose some from attrition.