Kicking the straw out of Nesting Box.

[RoxReck]

I'm new to chicken raising. I have 6 chickens. They keep kicking the straw out of their nesting box. They have been laying, and thankfully only one egg got broken. But does anyone have any advice to stop this behavior? Thanks!

 

[Bonkerelli]

Hello and congrats on your new chicken adventure! So, is it the same hen or hens laying then kicking out the straw? Do they lay in other places as well? It could be that they enjoy scratching at the straw. I had that problem last year. I switched to a different bedding and it ceased.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum form Louisiana, glad you joined.

A photo of your nest might help. Sometimes something jumps out at you when you see it. I've had this problem before and solved it by raising the lip a few inches to make it harder for them to scratch the bedding, fake eggs, and real eggs out. I don't know if that would apply to your nest or not.

 

[RoxReck]

Thank you Bonkerelli and RidgeRunner for your advice. The coop we have is the 6 chicken coop that Tractor supply sold. So the nesting boxes are flush with the floor. We are in the process of designing and building a new coop for them that is bigger. So I will make their nesting boxes come up off the ground a little higher. And switch to pine bedding. Thank you both for your lovely advice.

 

[RoxReck]

Hello and congrats on your new chicken adventure! So, is it the same hen or hens laying then kicking out the straw? Do they lay in other places as well? It could be that they enjoy scratching at the straw. I had that problem last year. I switched to a different bedding and it ceased.

Thank you!

 

[RoxReck]

Welcome to the forum form Louisiana, glad you joined.

A photo of your nest might help. Sometimes something jumps out at you when you see it. I've had this problem before and solved it by raising the lip a few inches to make it harder for them to scratch the bedding, fake eggs, and real eggs out. I don't know if that would apply to your nest or not.

Thank you!

 

[3KillerBs]

I've had this problem before and solved it by raising the lip a few inches to make it harder for them to scratch the bedding, fake eggs, and real eggs out.

This is what I had to do.

New layers often seem to be the worst for moving the bedding around.

Before:

After:

 

[Happy hen lover]

I threw out the straw and use pine shavings as well.Dont forget to put a decent lip of 4-5 inches to keep bedding in.