Nesting buckets always poopy :(

[firedove]

My chickens seem to have a passion for pooping while they lay their eggs in the nesting buckets. They sit in the bucket for up to an hour before they lay their egg all the while pooping. Due to this the eggs always end up poopy too.

Here is our nesting setup from the day we put it in

I thought I might have a problem with them pooping in the low ones but it's actually the top ones that get the most poop. I know that they are not roosting in them since I check on them very late at night and they are always asleep on the roosting branches.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to curb this behavior?

Thanks!
Val

 

[the_eagle69]

very cute set up. My chicks dont have near as nice of a place to poop as your does

. i bulit open nest boxes out of lumber spent several hours building a cover over thelm and it stopped some but they still have there favorite nest to poop in so maybe some one elses knows how to stop it.

 

[AimsChickies]

Just wanted to comment that your set up is very nice! i dont think there is anything you can do about the pooping though

 

[lakeshorenc]

I was having a problem with this until it dawned on me that they were doing it at night when they were roosting. One of their roosting poles was where their butts would go half way in the boxes. When we moved the pole they stopped.


*** sorry didn't read where you stated they weren't roosting there. If they are doing it while they are laying I can't help. I'm glad mine quit because I was having to change their straw every day and now it stays clean.

 

[DDRanch]

Great set up. I would suspect your hens are sleeping in the buckets you have provided. That is what my girls are doing in this unusually cold weather, several are sleeping in the nesting boxes and that is when they poop, not during the day when laying eggs. I clean out the nesting boxes every morning, so the eggs will stay clean.

They were so pathetic in their molts and started huddling together at night in the boxes so I just left them alone. I am hoping that once the weather turns nicer, They will go back to the roosts. 1/2 sleep in the boxes, 1/2 on the roosts.

 

[firedove]

Thank you everybody. I had a glimmer of hope that there was a fix for the problem, but now I see it's just going to be a fact of life :-/ I'll just have to keep up with cleaning it. Thanks again!