I GOT MY FIRST EGG!!!!

[DLC Eskies]

No clue which girl layed it.



There is 1 problem though. My girls keep kicking the bedding out of the nest boxes and my pretty egg broke. It has a hole in it's shell (the membrane is intact) from landing on the hard bottom of the box.
What can I put in there?

 

[allosaurusrock]

I'm pretty sure there are nest box pads you can get, though I have never used one.

 

[crapwagon]

Have never used them but know they are an option. You can cut them to size. I assume the clean up isn't very fun if they get dirty. So they may become pricey. To stop the loss of bedding I just made my boxes deeper.

 

[azygous]

I line my nest boxes with linoleum scraps. It helps to cushion the eggs and makes it much easier to clean a nest box if broken eggs do occur.

 

[DLC Eskies]

I already had linoleum pieces in the boxes. It wasn't enough.
I picked up some nest pads while out. Hopefully they will work.

 

[crapwagon]

I already had linoleum pieces in the boxes. It wasn't enough.
I picked up some nest pads while out. Hopefully they will work.

keep in touch and let me know if you like them. I've always been interested if they are worth while or not.

 

[SueT]

There are other causes of cracked eggs. Your egg may not have broken from the lack of bedding. See if it happens again before you go to a lot of trouble. Our hens prefer a nest with very little bedding and the bottom is bare wood ---we've been getting intact eggs for months in that bare nest. If I add more hay they kick it out.

 

[crapwagon]

There are other causes of cracked eggs. Your egg may not have broken from the lack of bedding. See if it happens again before you go to a lot of trouble. Our hens prefer a nest with very little bedding and the bottom is bare wood ---we've been getting intact eggs for months in that bare nest. If I add more hay they kick it out.

Good point.

 

[aart]

CONGRATS!

New layers are pretty rambunctious...their kicking out the bedding might pass with some time.
Takes month or so for things to settle down.

I use a flake of straw stuffed down into nest in a bowl shape, harder to kick it out as flake stays pretty intact.

Also, having the fronts of the nests at least 3-4" high can help keep all things in the nest.