Hen boxes

[J99]

Ok I have hen boxes on the ground in the run and some off the ground in the coop . I put straw and or hay in each box I’ve also put a fake egg in a couple to encourage laying. For some reason they will take all straw and hay out of the boxes. They don’t want them in there. I can fill them all with a small amount of hay , go fill feeders , come back and they are empty
Now my hen laid an egg on the ground

what am I doing wrong here?

 

[cmom]

Do you have some pictures of your nest boxes you can post? My birds weren't crazy about hay in their nest boxes. I have been putting pine shaving in them. They still scratch them out somewhat.

 

[J99]

Ok here they are actively scratching the bedding out of the boxes

 

[cmom]

I really don't have an answer to your question but maybe a suggestion. Our situations are different and unique to us. I have large flocks with several coops and can only tell you what has worked for me. Once in a great while I might find an egg on the floor of a coop or out in a pen but mostly in the nest boxes. My suggestion is to put something across the front along the bottom of the nest boxes. Mine aren't that low, probably like your top boxes. How many birds do you have? You only need 1 nest box for every 4/5 birds. I have had a dozen eggs before in one nest box and this coop has a dozen nest boxes. I have many coops that have 4 nest boxes in with around 20 birds in each but I don't usually get 20 eggs per day. Usually someone takes a day off, I have a way that I can add nest boxes as needed. Depending on the number of birds, maybe block off the bottom boxes and put something in front along the bottom of the upper boxes. The birds won't have a problem getting in and out of them and the nesting materials might stay in a little longer. I have golf balls in my nest boxes. They can't tell the difference. My hubby originally put roosts in front of the original nest boxes. I cut them off because that I think encouraged them to sleep on the nest box roosts, sometimes in the nest boxes and poop in them. No more. The single wood nest box (W/Buff Orpington?) in a picture, looks like it has a piece of wood across the bottom of the front of it. Good luck and have fun...

 

[rosemarythyme]

A higher lip in front helps keep bedding in place, 3-4" is pretty good. It's natural for them to kick around bedding to rearrange things to their liking, even if that means bedding goes out. As long as there's enough bedding to keep eggs pretty clean and unbroken, then it's good enough.

Mine actually like dragging in bits of wood like thin branches and bark strips in so they end up replacing some of the shavings they kick out.

 

[J99]

No they are picking them clean every box they will make pretty well empty I’m not sure why
We did build that ledge on the front of the higher boxes and they get up there easily enough but just empty them. I have 31 hens a rooster and two ducks two drakes
I guess we will see what happens from here , today was my first egg

 

[cmom]

Maybe try something different like shavings.

 

[aart]

Ok here they are actively scratching the bedding out of the boxes

There are no fronts on any of those 'nests', that's most likely the problem.
New layers are especially rambunctious about arranging the bedding at first.

 

[Cindy in PA]

I have boxes 2 feet off the ground with a 3 inch lip. They have never completely emptied them, but many times they kick much of it out. That goes for wood shavings & chopped straw. I got dirtier eggs with shavings, cleaner with chopped straw, but then the fine straw would sometimes stick like glue to the damp eggs. I tried the turf mats a few years ago & they made my broody hen stink in the summer. In September I got some excelsior pads to try & I love them. They have been in 3 months & my new layers seem to like them, I get clean eggs & they can't kick them out. YMMV

 

[MattyBowman]

We had the same problem, and we added 3 inch lips to the front to make it more of a box rather than just an alcove and we changed the bedding in the nest boxes to wood shavings rather than straw for the rest of the the coop and that totally solved the problem, they stopped scratching and emptying it and lay nicely in the boxes now.

Matthew
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