Nesting Box Question

[Cash's Coop]

In my coop design i have 6 separate boxes that are built into the coop itself. My chickens just started laying eggs withing the last 2 weeks and i have put golf balls in each box to get them used to laying in there which has worked. However the chickens continue to scratch out almost all of the straw I am using as bedding on a daily basis, making a terrible mess inside of the coop. This eventually leads me to grabbing handfuls of hay to throw back into the boxes ....

Any ideas on what the issue might be? Is there a different material i should use for bedding?

The only solution that i could think of that would help is to build up the front lip of the nesting box to make it slightly more difficult to throw the hay out.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Nupe]

They're going to kick out everything you put in there, it's just what they do. They spend more time fluffing and scratching then laying. Install a lip on the box so it stays in.

 

[lazy gardener]

Yep. They need a higher lip on the boxes. minimum of 4" high, 6 might be better.

 

[barred2rock]

A 2x4 placed as a lip would do the trick.

Here are my nest boxes to get an idea.

 

[kingchickies]

I have a question.. how big should nests be?

 

[TexasSam]

I built mine front lip 8 inches and have about 5 inches of cider shavings seems to work well

 

[TexasSam]

I have a question.. how big should nests be?

12x12x12

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I have a question.. how big should nests be?

are you building for bantams, standard layers or some of the giant breeds?

 

[kingchickies]

are you building for bantams, standard layers or some of the giant breeds?

I think all mine are large breeds. Silver laced Wyandotte, Ee, BO, BA

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I would suggest a minimum of 12x12 of you are going to do individual boxes. Some folks do more communal boxes that don't have dividers separating each area. My last set were 14x14, thee ones in our latest build are 14x16