What's the best nesting material?

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dickkenschickens

dickkenschickens

In the Brooder
10 Years
Jul 1, 2009
25
0
32
Portland
My chickens are almost 20 weeks old now and still no eggs. They seem happy and healthy Maybe still a little growing to do. They haven't been in their nesting boxes yet. I was thinking of using straw instead of the pine shavings I have in there now to entice them into the nesting boxes. Any suggestions?
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Shavings are the best. You know right away when they are wet and thats when you can immediatly change them and throw them out.Hay is good for outside, but inside it can get moldy and it is bad for the birds.
 
I use pine shavings. They are easy to clean out of the box and the girls seem to like them too.
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I use pine shavings and love it.. 'Knock on wood'--I haven't had a broken egg and It's so easy to keep the nest box clean.. I use a cat litter scoop-it's perfect for picking up poo.
 
i started with pine shavings and no eggs...so i put some straw in the boxes to make it a little cozier. just in 2 of the three. when they started laying...they all laid in the boxes with straw. i put shavings down then a little straw on top. the pine shavings got kicked around too much.

they love it!
 
Love hay in my nestboxes. One square bale lasts me forever and it's easily cleaned out. Just grab the whole wad of it and throw it out.
 
I had the same results! My girls don't like pine shavings at all, and are always kicking them out of the nest boxes. Hay they like, but really prefer dried green grass clippings! I usually let the clippings dry and then bag 'em up like hay for use over the winter. But with the drought, I barely mowed all summer. So I may bite the bullet and pay for a bale of alfalfa at the feed store ($16), which would last me all winter.

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com
 
I like pine straw best of all, but it always seems like when I want to change the nest litter it has rained recently so it's wet. Mostly I use Bermuda hay beause it's cheap and available. Shredded paper matted down too much. I've tried pine shavings but the hens like to scratch around in it so much that the eggs get buried which increases the chance that they may get lost and not found for a long time. I'm thinking about in the spring spreading cedar shavings over the hay to see if it will deter fire ants and maybe mites.

.....Alan.
 
Quote:
My girls have just started laying in the box this past week. (Previously, my only layer of 3 weeks kept using the coop floor...the new layers convinced her the boxes were better!
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) My only problem is they keep rearranging the shavings, leaving the center bare to the wood. I've had 2 cracked eggs from my new girls! I suppose one could be standing higher when laying and dropping it on the wood. Another BYCer has suggested using cardboard under the shavings as a cushion...that's my next try:)
 

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