I finally finished my nest box. What do you think?

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MeepBeep said:
I have all types of broody birds... My Black Sumatras are fierce defenders, they will squawk at anything that even walks by the opening to their nesting box, and peck anyone that gets close... While some of my other birds share broody duty, it's not uncommon for me to find one of my standard sized birds not only trying to sit on eggs but also sitting on a bantam that is trying to sit on the same eggs... And just by coincidence tonight I had my first broody Guinea Fowl... My Guinea's lay all over the coop, it's almost as if they just go about their business and when an egg falls out it falls out... Anyway said broody Guinea had managed to round up 9 Guinea eggs (and 3 chicken eggs) so she much have went all around the coop rolling the eggs to her new nest area in the corner stealing what she could...

Anyway my point is you can't predict broody birds they all have their own quirks, habits and personalities...
Click to expand...

Very true. I can only go by my experiences and learn from others, and I only have LF chickens, no banties to get sat on!

How funny about the Guinea, too.
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I wanted to give an update on the nestbox. My birds are laying. The first eggs I found were in a corner. I had tried using two baskets, but I don't think they liked that. I took the baskets out and filled the box with shavings. I found one in there today. My only concern now is the shavings had been pushed aside so much the egg was on the bare floor. I'm now in a wait and see mode. I think only three of my five are laying so far. I guess I'll put a divider in there if it turns out I need one. I have another question about my coop. What do you think about sand over shavings? I am considering changing to sand when I do my fall cleanup. I don't think it will have to be as deep and will give more of a lip in the nestbox.
 
Re sand over shavings, I think a lot depends on your local environment and coop design and just what works best for you. I went with sand. I have a walk in coop and 15 hens. It's very hot and very dry here.
I didn't want to be walking in months worth of chicken poop, I rake the poop up every couple days. The poop dries out really fast, so less smell and flies. We have horses and most neighbors have dogs, livestock including turkeys and pigs so flies can be a big problem here. That's why I went with sand.
Here's a link to some really good threads on the subject.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=sand+vs+shavings
 

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