Lazy Chickens love the nest box

[bdickey]

I have 2 Buckeye pullets that were hatched in early summer. They have a small coop about 2.5' X 3.5' ( I am working on a bigger one) and a 6' X 6' run. They spend about 15% of their time eating, drinking and walking around the run/coop/yard. The other 85% is spent laying down cuddling together. Thier favorite place to cuddle when not free ranging is in the nest box. The nest box is about 16" below the roost. I tried to break them of this early on by blocking off the nest box and putting coffee cans and balls in the nest box. They would either kick the balls/cans out, squeeze in between the cans and balls or they would cuddle right next to the nest box door. They also sleep in the nest box at night. I have tried to break them of this by putting them on the roost but they still won't go by themselves.

They just started laying eggs and they spend most of their day pooping on top of their eggs.

1. ) How should I prepare these eggs so that I can eat them. I read that you shouldn't wash them because it will remove the bloom.
2. ) What should I do to get clean eggs?

 

[aoxa]

If there is poop on mine (which there rarely is) I toss them or cook them up and feed them back to the chickens. :/

You could wash them, but you will need to consume them quicker than you usually do. I think it's best to find a way to keep it from happening in the first place.

 

[chicmom]

Oh, dontcha just hate that when you get poopy eggs? I personally just rinse off the eggs with cold water, let them air dry and pop them into the fridge. I do use a fresh paper towel to scrub the poo off with. It usually comes off pretty quickly. I don't use soap because I think it somehow could absorb into the shell and make the eggs taste soapy. (I might be wrong about that.)

I've never been poisoned by doing this. Works fine for me. There is some egg wash stuff you can buy at the farm store in a bottle, if you think you need it, but I don't use it.

Sharon