Ladies scratching inside nesting boxes

[VictorVictoria]

Hello friends!

We are finally getting some eggs from our young hens! We have nine hens, six EE and three light Brahma. All has been going well and we are up to about two dozen eggs coming from what I calculate to be two of the EE and two of the light brahma based on observation. The two EE are now spending a lot of time playing and scratching in the nesting boxes and kicking out the shavings. This has inevitably resulted in a broken egg when they each laid in the same box then went to scratch town. Darn it! Does anyone have any ideas to curb the scratching in the nest boxes? The coop has plenty of floor space fir scratching. The nest boxes are not slightly above floor level. The hen is close to the camera making the box look pretty small but they are actually just shy of 12x12

 

[mommiesrcool]

View attachment 2493047Hello friends!

We are finally getting some eggs from our young hens! We have nine hens, six EE and three light Brahma. All has been going well and we are up to about two dozen eggs coming from what I calculate to be two of the EE and two of the light brahma based on observation. The two EE are now spending a lot of time playing and scratching in the nesting boxes and kicking out the shavings. This has inevitably resulted in a broken egg when they each laid in the same box then went to scratch town. Darn it! Does anyone have any ideas to curb the scratching in the nest boxes? The coop has plenty of floor space fir scratching. The nest boxes are not slightly above floor level. The hen is close to the camera making the box look pretty small but they are actually just shy of 12x12

you could try nesting pads

 

[mommiesrcool]

I use nesting pads but today my pullet was unprepared and laid her egg on the ramp it had a big crack so I used it right away

 

[LizzzyJo]

My hens scratch constantly! It is very annoying and has the same result as yours. What I did to stop the breaking of eggs was to nail down wash cloths to the bottom of the nesting boxes. Now even when the scratch the shavings out they still don't break the eggs. They don't poop in the boxes, so cleaning is very rarely needed.

 

[mommiesrcool]

My hens scratch constantly! It is very annoying and has the same result as yours. What I did to stop the breaking of eggs was to nail down wash cloths to the bottom of the nesting boxes. Now even when the scratch the shavings out they still don't break the eggs. They don't poop in the boxes, so cleaning is very rarely needed.

Same! my nest box doesn't have a bumper so they throw out all the nesting pads so I had to put a towel down for a day and know they use the pads

 

[3KillerBs]

Scratching to prepare the nest is normal. A good lip on the box and plenty of shavings to push around helps.

 

[MissE]

Mine spin and spin and spin in the box. And scratch. And kick bedding everywhere. To top it off, they all want to use the same box. Not the same, same box everyday, but once one goes in a box, they all try to pile in like a clown car. The next day they will do the same thing in a different box. Grrrr... I try to gather eggs several times a day, but someone is always in there and they get a little pecky if I try to grab some of the eggs. Having an egg break or get kicked on the floor is not uncommon. One loves to scream at whomever is in the box when she wants to use it.

 

[50-45-1]

Some primping and rearrangement of the nesting material is normal, but if your hens are scratching out the eggs and shavings I wonder how much light is in the nest box area.
Making it dark in there with curtains may stop the search for whatever they are digging for.
I have this problem more often on the winter when they spend more time in the coop and miss scratching and digging.

 

[rosemarythyme]

For free nest padding, just fold empty feed bags to snugly fit the bottom of the box, then put bedding over it. That way even if they scratch out most of it, there's still a decent amount of padding, and if ever an egg breaks or a nest is soiled, just remove the bag, toss, and put in a fresh one.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Scratching to prepare the nest is normal. A good lip on the box and plenty of shavings to push around helps.

This. I've had this problem before and solved it by raising the lip a few inches to make it a lot harder for them to scratch things out. It looks like you have plenty of room to add another two inches or so to that lip. I've had hens use a nest with the openings only 6" high. I was concerned it would not be enough but it did not bother the hens.