Coop and poop

you can cover the nesting boxes till they are ready to lay .....as far as poop in the nesting box = eggs covered in poo

 

In warmer weather when our hens spend nights in their coop, several seem to prefer sleeping in their nest boxes and yes, they poop where they sleep. I hand clean the coop and boxes daily early in the morning to maintain fresh quarters for them and have little mess or messy eggs. The cleaning takes just a few minutes (6 x 4 coop with extension for boxes) because the coop is raised to comfortable height and nest box covers and the two end doors of the coop open widely for me to easily reach in and to provide great day time ventilation in good weather. In cold weather, they prefer coming into their indoor pen in our barn, roosting on saw horses at night and pooping like there is no tomorrow. There we practice deep litter which means I'm "keeping" the poop, the hens mix it in well, and when I run my hand down into the litter, it's wonderfully warm. Talk about alternative heating for winter! ~G

 

chickens will poop where ever they are when ever they have to. I get some in my nests but not much because they don't hang out there except to lay eggs. Under the roosts is the most concentratioin I have. I clean under there about twice as much as I clean the remainder of the coop floor. nearly every day I'm cleaning poop off of at least one egg before I put it in the carton.

 

There is no such thing as a poop free nesting box. Since poop and the egg exit from the same place, there is often going to be some poop pushed out prior to the egg.

 

Quote:Poop and eggs do not come from same hole. If yours do, I don't want to eat eggs at your house!

 

Both eggs and feces come from different tracts but they do come out the same hole/opening.. It's called the vent.. If they aren't coming out the same hole, i want to know what kind of chicken gallusdomesticus has and why the anatomy is different.. LOL

Goddess

 

Quote:Where are your roosts in relation to your nests? They should be higher so chooks do not sleep in the nests. Also helps to have barriers between so chooks do not hopscotch thru the nest row. Make a walkboard/shelf for them to walk along so they do not walk and roost on edges of nest boxes.

I have 23 pullets of 8 months and they do not poop in the nest boxes because the roosts are twice as high above the floor. It is not something you have to accept and you should change it to make your coop chores easier. I put a 24" wide poop board under each roost. It is covered in linoleum and scrapes easily, which I do daily in AM. It goes to garden, shrub bed, and compost.

Mine started laying at 4 months age and are now 8 months. I have had about 4 poopy eggs total from hundreds. For helping them start, you could do a higher protein supplement, like calf-manna or hog feed. If that fails, you could do artificial lights. If you are free-ranging, it could be that some or all are hiding eggs. I have seen that on more than one post on this forum.

 

There is always some, but very little. at least in our nesting box...

 

Yeah, I would definitely make sure your nest boxes are covered, and I'd suggest that you consider dropping boards under your roosts. Are your roosts higher than your nest boxes? That will entice them to roost where they should. Good luck!