deep holes in coop

[mlynch33]

I have a couple Silkie hens that have dug very deep holes in their coop (one even had a hard time getting out of it this morning). I live in Michigan but I don't think it's cold enough outside yet for them to be cold at night. The oldest ones are about 5 months old and haven't started laying yet. Is this behavior telling me they are about to start laying? Thanks!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Are they digging holes for dust bathing? Parts of my yard look like a moonscape from the chickens digging holes for that.

 

[mlynch33]

Hmm I don't know. They dust themselves plenty out in their little yard. Inside the coop I have straw then pine shavings so I'm not sure what they would dust themselves in.

 

[Haven Farm]

I built a dust box for my chickens. It's ~2ftx4ft and 10 inches deep. I put a mixture of sand, peat moss and potting soil in it. They use it everyday. I started off sprinkling a little scratch in it to begin with to entice them to use it. If you look athe pic you can see it in the run

 

[mlynch33]

Thank you for the posts. The last 2 days I've had eggs from those 2 chickens so I guess they were just making nests (since the eggs were inside them).

 

[Kelsie2290]

Congratulations! on the first eggs, sounds like your girls went to a lot of work to arrange things to their satisfaction. Silkies do seem to like to do things their own way.