Just a question about nest box

[tamelroy]

I am not lucking out with these boxes. lol

Ok this is what I have it used to be a hutch, I took the doors off and put boards to make kind of a bookshelf like look. They keep pulling all the hay and pine out on me and laying just on the wood, which in turn the next chicken to go in breaks the egg.

I then tried an open shelf, which worked good, but they started roosting on it and the next morning it is covered in poo, so that came down and I just left the hutch.

So, now I am thinking milk crates but do you guys stand them up, or lay the crates on the side?

Thanks for any ideas, I am really at a lost what to do, I am not that good a building things so you might have to be really detailed when telling me something! lol

TIA

TRACY

 

[maplesky7]

when you had your boxes did you remember to include a lip on the front so they can't kick so much of the straw or bedding out? Do a search on here and look at some pics... you'll see the lip.

You have to have a top over the nest boxes to avoid poo.


If the eggs were broke... most likely you have one or several chickens who are pecking at them out of curiosity or the dreaded egg eaters.

 

[tamelroy]

Quote:
Ya, I did the lip and they still empty the whole nest! lol They are so fresh!

As far as the eggs I have seen some just step on them and they break and of course they eat after. I think I do have one eater out there, cuz I never get my green egg any more. lol

I am just so fustrated for two years I keep doing things different and it works for a bit and then they destroy it. lol I even made the lip bigger but of course that didn't help, well at least not long.

That is why I was thinking of putting milk crates, but standing up where they would have to jump in, but I don't even know if that would work.

I will see if I can find something on here, Thanks!
Tracy

 

[Ridgerunner]

The milk crates are not a bad idea. I'd set it upright and fill it almost to the top with the hay and see what happens.

You say they are stepping on them and breaking them. Are you sure the shells are thick enough? You may need to offer oyster shell if you are not already.

My other concern is that they are breaking them on purpose to eat them. Not a good situation at all if this is the case. You might want to do a search on roll-out nesting boxes if that is the case.

Good luck. Thisone sounds like it is very frustrating.

 

[tamelroy]

Quote:
I might try the cat box thing too, I saw that on community boxes, they loved to share their shelf, but if they didn't roost on it I would have left it. I clean the coop out a lot, but you figure the time I get out there maybe around 9 am and over night the shelf is filled w/poo

Ya I think the shell is thick enough, they get oyster shell, just my car broke down so out of the two years, I am out of shell now for about 1 week. But some of the girls are 7 lbs easy so I guess with that weight on an egg it would break, cuz they are actually stepping on them. I think I am getting egg eaters because of it though, but it isn't bad cuz I get 15 eggs a day, well sometimes 9, but that isn't too often.

this is how I feel after 2 years. lol

 

[buckabucka]

Okay, we don't even have chickens yet, but this is what we're going to try. We're going to have a community nest box with a lid. I heard that chickens are less likely to eat the eggs if it is dark. Also, the floor of the nest will be hardware cloth. We plan to cover the hardware cloth with some straw, and then top it with wood shavings. I read that the hardware cloth helps to provide some "give" to the floor, so eggs are less likely to crush, and any liquid will sink out the bottom.

I'm hoping this system will work!