So, we have two two year old hens who have suddenly stopped using their nest box and instead prefer one of our raised vegetable beds. We spent the entire weekend chasing them out and have now wrapped the whole thing in chicken wire, hoping to keep them out. They are obsessed. It started while I was out of town and my husband did not have the time to address it right away and now it's like they don't even know they ever had a nest box! I put one of their eggs and a couple of golf balls in the box, but it does not seem to be helping. We also tried physically removing them from the bed and placing them in the house and locking them in. No luck.
I checked the box to see if it looked like there might be mites or something in it and it looks like it always does. We do dust the inside of their coop and box with food grade diatomaceous earth. Both the coop floor and the nest box have a nice layer of fresh hay. I have no idea what the problem could be.
Advice, anecdotes would be much appreciated.
I checked the box to see if it looked like there might be mites or something in it and it looks like it always does. We do dust the inside of their coop and box with food grade diatomaceous earth. Both the coop floor and the nest box have a nice layer of fresh hay. I have no idea what the problem could be.
Advice, anecdotes would be much appreciated.
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