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Nesting box problem.

post #1 of 6
5/25/12 at 6:31pm
Thread Starter 
I have a bunch of young chickens not laying yet, but I have two RIR that are. I keep putting straw/hay in the boxes on top of shavings, nice and cozy I think. Next day the straw/hay is almost gone, pushed out on the floor leaving the nesting boxes pretty empty except the shavings. I refill, next day gone again. My RIR still lay their eggs no problem. So? Who is most likely doing this? The laying hens or the non laying hens. It only happens to the boxes that I find eggs in..
Thanks....
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post #2 of 6
5/25/12 at 6:51pm

How large a lip do you have on your nest boxes?  Hens may inadvertantly be knocking hay out as they 'prepare the nest' and lay their eggs.  If this is the case, a larger lip would help retain the hay in the nest boxes.

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Friends are the family you make for yourself.
There are no coincidences- only providences.
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post #3 of 6
5/25/12 at 6:52pm

My birds all kick the straw out of the nest until there is hardly any left in the box.  Then they drop their eggs onto the bare wood, cracking the narrow end of the egg in the process. Gotta wonder if the hens have figured out that I usually scramble the cracked eggs and feed them back to them the next day.  At any rate, it's my laying hens doing it and I haven't figured out how to modify the boxes to get them to stop.  Maybe I should try shavings - sounds like yours are leaving the shavings, at least! 

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post #4 of 6
5/25/12 at 7:01pm
Thread Starter 
I got about 3 inches on the front lip.
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post #5 of 6
5/25/12 at 7:03pm

If you can do so try adding another couple of inches and see how they do.

Friends are the family you make for yourself.
There are no coincidences- only providences.
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Friends are the family you make for yourself.
There are no coincidences- only providences.
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post #6 of 6
5/26/12 at 10:17am

Here's how I set up the nesting boxes...1. sprinkle DE down first. 2. lay a gray "astro turf" pad down. 3. put in the shavings over the astro turf.  They can scratch all they want...the turf prevents the eggs from breaking. Works for me.

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