hen digging nest too deep

[nomirawr1]

Anyone ever managed to stop a hen from digging her eggs all the way down to hard surface?

This is my austrolorps 2nd set of eggs. Both sets, she dug them straight down through all the lovely piled straw and right to the timber on the hen house. Both times, we've ended up with at least 1 broken egg due to the hard floor (I believe it is anyway). Keen to find a way to stop her doing that. Making the bedding deeper (it's already quite deep, at least 6in deep of thick, well packed straw)isn't an option or it'll be so high she doesn't have space to climb in!

Last time I just let her have them on the timber - she didn't break any more eggs after the first one. I put straw in when she was done waiting for them to hatch and she just kicked ALL of it out. I replaced it often, but she just kept kicking it all out, so I eventually gave up... lol.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Have you tried shavings or some other bedding for her nest? Sounds like she prefers no bedding, there's a "nesting mat" I've seen on Amazon, that may work. Or just let her go without bedding.

 

[K3nzi3]

Hmm. Maybe place a piece of soft surface down? (sponge, cloth etc...) She can still dig, but it may prevent broken eggs.

 

[nomirawr1]

Hmm. Maybe place a piece of soft surface down? (sponge, cloth etc...) She can still dig, but it may prevent broken eggs.

I feel so dumb. I hadn't even thought of that, .

 

[K3nzi3]

I feel so dumb. I hadn't even thought of that, .

Hahaha we all have our days lol. I'm glad I could be of use!

 

[ChickNanny13]

 

[chickengeorgeto]

It is a hens' instinct to create a saucer shaped nest. Hen eggs (say as opposed to fish eggs) are, well their egg shaped. An egg shaped object in a saucer shaped nest naturally rests small end down and big end or air cell up like is required for a hens' egg to efficenly hatch. My question to you is this, How much humidity does dry straw bring to the party?

Try this, use a straight point shovel to cut a strip of green living turf, grass, roots, soil and all. Make it the same shape but a little longer and wider than the inside bottom dimensions of the nesting box. Fit this chunk of green living turf into the bottom of the nest box, with the sides of the turf running a short way up the insides of the nest box, only fit it into the nest box grass side DOWN. Now would be a great time to slowly pour a bucket of cool clean water onto the just installed chunk of turf. Set the nest box in a good location inside the hen house, pen, run, or coop. Depending on the size of the box add a single hand full of straw (NO hay) to the inside of the nest box. Hens are females and as such they will arrange, or rearrange and then arrange some more every single stick of wheat straw to suite her cosverrosity. Seeing that your sitting hen will be the one whose butt is glued in place for the next 3 weeks, IMHO that is a small price for a human to pay to make sure his or her hens' backside is comfortable.

 

[CSAchook]

Hmm. Maybe place a piece of soft surface down? (sponge, cloth etc...) She can still dig, but it may prevent broken eggs.

I cut a square from an old bath mat. Works great!

 

[Sunshine Flock]

One of my hens does this same thing. I cringe when I'm in there and hear the egg drop onto the bottom of the box. One broke. She digs everything out of her way. I'll try a folded towel at the bottom and see if that helps.

 

[rebrascora]

I was going to suggest a sod of earth too but @chickengeorgeto beat me to it.

If you put fabric in there, it is just as likely to get scratched and rucked up too. I use sawdust for litter in my coop... the pelleted kind that you rehydrate. I find that works well and you can pour some water into it to keep it moist but a sod of earth is the old fashioned way and it works. Helps to keep mites at bay and provides the hen with the most natural environment. After all, with an incubator we are aiming to create the conditions of a natural hatch environment..... temp. humidity and turning, then we deprive our broodies of one of those factors (humidity) and expect them to still have success. One of my first (and best) broodies pooped in her nest a few days before hatch and I now seriously believe that this may have been her only way of increasing the humidity at that vital stage. She hatched 14 out of 14 and none were ill as a result of the poop. In fact chicks gain valuable bacteria from eating a broodies poop. It is our conditioning that makes us want everything to be clean and dry and "sterile" or bacteria free when actually this is not really a healthy or natural status.