Nesting box material?

[galanie]

Use whatever you have and whatever the hens like. They do have preferences. My favorite is straw. Not hay but straw. My hens prefer it too, happily. It keeps the nest cleaner in my experience.

Side note: Straw has to be trucked here from many states away and yet is still cheaper than hay which is grown locally. Blame the drought.

 

[Daisy8s]

I use shredded paper because I love using free stuff I have on hand. Finally a good use for the junk mail!

 

[mtnviewfarms]

My husband is a woodworker so we often use pine shavings both on the floor of the coop and in the nest boxes.

I also frequently add pine straw that I collect around our property and put that ( and dry leaves in fall )
on the floor and in the nests - all seem to be accepted and used fine by our hens.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I use the hay because it is free. I might use some shredded junk mail, too. Free is awesome.

 

[galanie]

I love free as much as the next person but mine wont' lay in pine needles (aka pine straw) and paper has the tendency to hold water. So if someone lays a shelless egg (and I have one that does often enough) or drags in nasty poo on their foot, it'd be an even worse mess than such already makes.

 

[Tivona]

In the summer I use lawn mower clippings that have been allowed to dry in the sun for a few days. We have a mower that collects the clippings. I dump the fresh clippings onto a board 2 to 3 inches deep in the sun and stir every day for about 3 to 5 days depending on how sunny/hot/dry it is. The clippings are really easy to clean up in the nest boxes. I have ducks and there is always one who poops in the nest box. The clippings make it really easy to pull the poop out without having half the box emptied due to it all clinging together. In the winter I switch to hay but the grass clippings are much easier for me.

 

[ksohn79]

Great! Thanks for all the ideas everyone! We put the nesting boxes in the coop tonight and started with the shavings since that is what we have but now have lots of different ideas to try!

 

[heybarb]

I have been using pine shaving and straw. But can I use the recycled, biodegradable paper "product" (sold for bedding in hamster and rabbit cages) in the nest boxes? I found a bag in our garage that was from a hamster we had about 6 years ago. What do you think?

 

[carolinasculpture]

Hi! I use the astro-turf nest liners from FarmTek. They are grey, have fake grass which all leans one direction which helps the eggs to roll out of the nest box into the collection area. They are SUPER easy to clean out. If I have a hen "go" in the box, I just take it outside, beat it on the ground and return it to the nest box. I have installed craft foam under these liners and if there is a shell-less egg, I just rinse off the liner and the foam. Really easy to clean, allows ventilation, and isn't inviting to mites and the like!

 

[Johnn]

I use and have always used Straw