Hay instead of shavings for nests works better for me .

[tigger19687]

I had 3 buckets and 2 boxes for nests for the 4 idiotic hens. Last week sometime I put some hay in the 3 buckets. And they seemed to like it I thought.

Yesterday I sat in the coop while one was laying, 2 more came in to lay and they ALL WANTED THAT ONE BUCKET !

The 3 buckets are on a long shelf, so I took out the buckets, put a thick layer of hay on it and mushed 3 indents for nests.
I put in the 2 FAKE eggs I had bought for teaching last year into 2 sections. I think they all just want to lay on the egg that is there first

I think they really like the Hay !! They peck and replace pieces as they lay in there, mush it up on the sides to make a DEEP pocket for them.
I do not have any curtains, really don't need anything else to get dirty, torn. No one is having chicks.

My eggs are almost always clean anyway, unless it is a muddy rainy day.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Yeah, IMO shavings are only good if your chickens frequently poop in the nesting boxes (crusted hay being worse to remove than dirty shavings.) It also makes a much better nest when they do decide to incubate, because of the way it can be formed. Of course, I get my hay for free, so I may be biased...

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I use a base of hay and put shavings in to supplement freshening.

 

[jthornton]

I use a carpet runner...

JT

 

[Mr.Rogers]

as my chicks are getting older they are staying away from the shavings and preferring the hay a lot more

 

[tigger19687]

I got 2 bales of hay free. Toss 2 flakes in the big run for them to scratch around in, soak up a bit of wetness.
Still have a bale and a couple flakes.
i have never had to clean out the nest boxes, so Hay it is

I think the hens/chicks like the hay/straw as they can scratch around in it. I toss out feed on the ground in the hay so they toss it around.
I also, once a week, rake up the hay and compost it and put out new. Helps with Fly's as it takes up the poop too

 

[Hokum Coco]

put a thick layer of hay on it and mushed 3 indents for nests.

What ever works in your situation.

I have 68 trips around the sun for decades I have been raising chickens
For years I have been lining my nest boxes with the folded empty nylon mesh feed bags.
When a bag gets soiled pop out the soiled and pop in another. Poop just peels off in below freezing temperatures and just flakes off when left out in the sun to bake and dry. It is the best method I have stumbled upon in my 67 trips around the sun.

Oh! Remove the excess string from the open end of the bag it can get tangled in your birds legs and wings.
Easy Peasy Japaneasy.

 

[Howard E]

I have always used hay, and toss a golf ball into each nest. With the golf ball, they use all 3 nests. Without it, they focus on one.

Also, the bottoms of my nests are not solid. They are 1/2" x 1" welded wire, aka, cage wire. That way, any broken eggs, droppings, dirt or dust simply all through the wire mesh to the coop floor below. Onto deep litter. Hay stays fresh longer, and fewer places for parasites to hide.

I know one family who has solid bottom nests, use shavings and until recently, their top row of nests were the highest place in the coop, so their birds roosted there. Their nest boxes resemble a droppings board. Their birds still use them as nest boxes, but it ain't a pretty sight.

 

[member 373180]

Somewhere on here I read that chickens may eat the hay leading to impacted crops.
I use straw, cut into 6-8" lengths with shavings in my nest boxes. The straw gives the nests they build more vertical structure that I think they like.

 

[tigger19687]

I found that the hay/straw that is shorter is what mine will try to eat in the run.

In the nest they just pull it around them. I had hay in there last year for the back side but shavings in the rest.

My 'shelf, if you look at my COOP Page is plastic shelves. They have 1/2 inch sq holes on the shelf part so dust and such shifts out eventually.

Will see which nest they lay in today. I have the 2 fake eggs on either side of the middle nest they liked.... but THAT nest was in a bucket and I moved it over to one of the boxes.

Love experiments