Kicking straw out of nesting box and about to lay?

[jbdaulton]

HI!
I am new to raising chickens and I have a coop set up and have a cabinet without doors as nesting boxes...I just bought straw to lay in them thinking my hens are going to start laying soon. They are about 20 weeks old. But once I put the star in they keep spreading it out all over the coop floor! Will they lay if the boxes are empty? They have been squawking a bunch in the morning so I am thinking they should be laying soon! What should I do? Just leave them alone?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined us!

Most hens like to rearrange the nesting material so they can get it just right before before they lay. That means they scratch in the nest box. If you don't have a lip across the bottom to hold the nesting material in, they scratch it out to the coop floor.

With yours, if they are not laying yet, they are just exploring. Thye may be scratching in the straw for looking for food or maybe exploring the nest boxes, getting ready. Again, a lip across the bottom will help keep the straw in.

I make my lip about 5" high but many people get away with less. I'd go at least 3".

Good luck and again

 

[mickey328]

I was honored this morning to be present at a laying (can you tell I'm a newbie?) We put the chickens before the coop, so they're currently housed in a rabbit hutch with a portable fence for a run. We put straw in the cage but of course, the bottom is wire, so most of it ends up on the ground below. After we found the first egg just laying in the cage, I dug out an old Rubbermaid dishpan to use as a nesting box till we get the coop finished. It's very light so if they stand on the edge, they'll tip it. So we poked a hole in it and tied it to the cage so it's stable.

We had an old front door mat that has the grassy sort of plastic, so DH cut a piece to fit and put that in with just a handful of straw. They scratch and dig at it and seem to be satisfied. Since we put it in, we've had half a dozen eggs...one on the ground in front of the cage, one on the cage floor and 4 in the "box".

Scratching is just their "thing"...they do it any and every where. A lip on the box would be excellent, I think. They don't seem to need a LOT of bedding...so if they end up with an inch or so, it should be sufficient. I will say though, I'm really liking that mat...when it gets icky we can just hose it off and they can scratch to their hearts' content on it with no loss of cushioning.

Mickey