Hens at the start of lay prefer nests in the corners and at the ends of rows, which leads to overcrowding in the nest and more aggression as a result. Increased aggression leads to cracked and mislaid eggs. The current study was designed to verify whether nest colour could be used to increase their attractiveness in order to counter-balance the aforementioned positional effects. Tests were also conducted to determine whether early colour preference could be demonstrated, whether early colour preference could affect nest colour preference, and whether exposing chicks to specific colours at an early age could influence nest colour preference later on. In the first group, chicks were exposed to one of four colours (blue, green, yellow and red) during the first 12 days of life. In two additional groups, individuals showing high preference for these colours were identified. 50.5 % of chicks chose yellow most often, 32.1 % chose red, but only 7.1 and 2.2 % chose green and blue, respectively. 8.1 % of chicks did not show a preference for a single colour, but showed preference for two or three colours equally. As adult hens, they were tested for their choice of nest colour at the start of lay (weeks 19-22) from the following eight categories: those that had been exposed to blue, green, yellow or red during the first 12 days of life, those that had been selected at the same age for their preference of yellow, red, or yellow and red, and those that had been selected because they had shown no preference to any particular colour during the first 12 days of life. There were not enough birds showing a preference for blue or green at an early age to be tested later on as hens. Groups of four were created, and each bird of a group originated from a different category. Each group had a choice of four double nests, with each nest painted in one of the four colours. Hens that were exposed to blue, green or red at an early age did not prefer corresponding nest colours when in lay. The same was true for hens showing preference for red or red and yellow at an early age. All hens showed a significant preference for yellow nests when in lay, and were indifferent to blue, green, and red nests. However, birds selected for their preference of the colour yellow at an early age, as well as those exposed to yellow at that age, did not show this general preference of yellow nests. Instead, they were indifferent to all four nest colours offered. So, in systems where nests are arranged in rows, it should be possible to distribute hens more evenly among available nests, and thus avoid overcrowding, by painting the mid-third of nest rows yellow. The nests should be painted in a way as to reduce aggression between the hens and decrease the number of cracked and mislaid eggs at the start of lay.