Best filler material for nesting/egg boxes

[Cheryl]

Same problem here! Four girls pile into the box and one leans into it from the outside of box...Maybe built something that can slide into place in the evening and be removed in the morning?

 

[StoneEchoChick]

I was thinking a square of plywood with a support to stand on the back (kind of like a picture frame). I am hoping that this would be a temporary routine, only until they learn to sleep on the roosts. What do you think?

 

[StoneEchoChick]

Thanks egh,
Boy your coop is clean. My 24 birds make a heck of a mess... Maybe I will just change the bedding everyday...

 

[newchickmom]

I use shavings with only a couple handfuls of hay. I know someone has been snuggling in there, but I haven't caught anyone yet. It's probably the girl that just started laying. (my first!)

 

[StoneEchoChick]

Maybe Ill put mostly hay with shredded paper on top. ...
Still would like them to learn to sleep on the roosts not in the boxes

 

[stilwellchick]

I use Timothy grass in the nests. It packs into a perfect bowl shape for them and smell really fresh like cut grass. It seems to stay in the nest boxes really well and is softer than straw. My hens never sleep in their nest boxes, only on the roosts so I don't have a problem with them staying clean.

 

[StoneEchoChick]

Heres a silly question...Timothy hay and grass the same thing?

 

[Moselle]

I read of one person who uses dryer lint. I use color/frangrance free detergent and dryer sheets, so all that dryer lint might find a useful home once the nests are needed.

I also read of another person who put an empty gallon milk jug in the nest boxes at night until her hens stopped sleeping there.

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:

Go for it - its the lazy man's nest box, but the girls do love them!

 

[RockinCircleC]

Quote:
Typically not. In WA we get timothy, orchard grass, alfalfa and TEFF hay at the feed stores. Timothy is a grass, but it's a specific KIND of grass which grows well in eastern WA. Other kinds are fescue (lots of different varieties), bermuda, salt grass, brome. It all depends on where you live and where your hay comes from.