Nestbox straw removal!!

[tbrz70]

My chickens have not yet begun to lay eggs however I am wondering if someone can tell me why they would keep taking all there nesting material out of their nest boxes? I know they like to scratch through it and maybe they are still just young but I am getting a little nervous about what they are doing because they should be laying very soon. They are all just about 5 months. Is this normal behavior and is there something else I should be doing??

Thanks
Tara

 

[Dar]

mine kick it out of the nesting box and then they lay on the floor

I have a few that will lay in bare boxes

 

[mjuenem]

Mine do that and the egg sometimes cracks on the point. I went down to tractor supply and they have a heavey rubber mat material for animal stalls. I bought a 1 foot wide piece of this and cut it to size to line the nest boxes. No more cracked eggs and easy to clean.

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

I put straw in my nest boxes before my girls started laying and they pulled every bit of it out so I put pine shavings in instead and they liked them better. ?????

 

[tuckertori]

One of my 6 month olds girls decided to change her laying spot and started laying in the yard. Hide and seek? So, I took some leaves from the place she made her new nest and put it in one of the nesting boxes and now she is laying there. I hope she continues to...I am not very good at hide and seek.

 

[epeloquin]

My girls do the same thing. They don't seem to do it for any particular reason other than an obsessive need to pick at things. I have some old carpet, I am going to cut squares of that to line the bottom of my nesting box. Mainly because it is free!

 

[ChristianaMus]

Quote:
I have also same problem! thanks for the idea i will try the same as you are going to do!

 

[annetteu]

Quote:
Ours did also so we went to Tractor supply as suggested but not all stores carry the same things, so we went to our local dollar store and bought some cheap rubber door mats and cut to size of nesting boxes and covered with about 2-3 inches of fine pine shavings, they have a harder time kicking this out because like I said it fine, and even if they do the rubber mats are there to keep the eggs from breaking...
as far as not laying yet watch their crowns when they become full and red they will definitely be laying we still have 2 that are almost at the laying point!!! Can't wait!!!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

They do like to scratch. Now they are probably just playing in there, but when they start laying they will often rearrange the nesting material to get it just right. Sometimes fake eggs and real eggs get scratched out with the nesting material.

I had the same problem, with the nesting material, fake eggs, and real eggs winding up on the floor. So I raised the lip to hold all that in to around 5" to 6". That solved the problem. I have full sized hens. They can easily get in a 6" high entrance to the nesting box, though I prefer the opening to be a bit taller.