chicken nests

i was wondering if hens will lay eggs in nests that are on the floor? i have 5 nests that are in the upper story of an old rabbit hutch.
ALso i was wondering if anyone had instructions on incubators

Hmmm. I do not know and I am a novice. I have a three storied hen house, 'my three hens' had their nests on the 2nd and 3rd stories, and hatched their babies there. Then, all three hens and their 13 chicks moved to the 1st story. Geeze. Who knew? Don't forget, I am a novice.

thanks, i guess since all my nests are on ground level they will have to lay them in the nests or else on the floor. i'll hope for the better!

I think since they will lay them anywhere on the ground outside, they will in the henhouse. Put a lightbulb or golfball in a couple nests.

sounds like a good idea, coax 'em in

I wonder if them being on the floor will be more enticing for snakes to visit the nests ?

they are on the floor of the coop, but that is 2.5 ft from the ground

ohh, i was hoping the dog would take care of rodents.

My birds lay where they want, unfortunatly, but they have laid in boxes on the floor. I did read somewhere and I am going to try this, buy those covered kitty litter boxes, set them on a hay bale and/or bolt them to the wall. They are clean and up a little higher and make fine nest boxes. Since we are not carpenters here, I am going to give this a try.

Diane/ Mid-Michigan

Ours lay on the floor just fine. We have bottomless boxes, a large plastic trash can that was left too close to the burning barrel so it has a large hole melted in one side, some of those nice metal nest sets just setting on the floor, etc. The upper level of the metal nests seldom get any use.