nests

[Cathy Roberts]

What is the best thing to line nest boxes with?

 

[Acre4Me]

We use the aspen excelsior. We bought the nest liner version with paper backing, but hens scratched till the paper was removed (yes, paper was on the bottom!) and then they were happy. So, once those ran out, we bought a 10lb box of loose excelsior from Amazon and use that.

Straw, shavings are common to use. Some use the washable plastic liners, but they are stiff, so some people still add some straw or excelsior to make them a little less spikey.

And I’ve also seen mention that some people use outdoor carpet. We bought some thin green outdoor carpet to line the nest boxes, but the girls do like to make an excelsior nest, so they have both.

 

[Cathy Roberts]

We use the aspen excelsior. We bought the nest liner version with paper backing, but hens scratched till the paper was removed (yes, paper was on the bottom!) and then they were happy. So, once those ran out, we bought a 10lb box of loose excelsior from Amazon and use that.

Straw, shavings are common to use. Some use the washable plastic liners, but they are stiff, so some people still add some straw or excelsior to make them a little less spikey.

And I’ve also seen mention that some people use outdoor carpet. We bought some thin green outdoor carpet to line the nest boxes, but the girls do like to make an excelsior nest, so they have both.

Thank you very much. We were thinking of shavings and straw, but weren't totally sure.

 

[Better Than Rubies]

Yes, straw is great! It's a perfect material for them to shape their nests into the shape we think of nests as. And I wouldn't use hay, as that'd be wasting it, in my opinion...since it's edible for livestock to eat.

 

[Cathy Roberts]

Yes, straw is great! It's a perfect material for them to shape their nests into the shape we think of nests as. And I wouldn't use hay, as that'd be wasting it, in my opinion...since it's edible for livestock to eat.

Yes, straw is great! It's a perfect material for them to shape their nests into the shape we think of nests as. And I wouldn't use hay, as that'd be wasting it, in my opinion...since it's edible for livestock to eat.

Thank you so much! I'm pretty sure we'll go with straw.

 

[jthornton]

I use a piece of carpet runner... in my Roll Out Nest Box Mk3. Very easy to clean once a week.



JT

 

[imnukensc]

I just use a combination of pine shavings, pine straw, and leaves from the yard.

 

[Grits&Eggs]

i lined our roll-aways with astro-turf; they didn't like it at first so I added a nesting pad, but slowly took it away until they are now on just the turf. Took a lot of patience on my part, slowly changing and squawking on their part....

 

[MissChick@dee]

I put straw down on the bottom then pack it down. Top it with wood shavings. I very seldom have to clean out my boxes (in springtime). The straw allows air circulation and with the wood shavings I can just pick up any mess with my gloved hand. IMHO the straw keeps the shavings inside the box and the hens from sliding around. My boxes are plastic BTW.

 

[jthornton]

i lined our roll-aways with astro-turf; they didn't like it at first so I added a nesting pad, but slowly took it away until they are now on just the turf. Took a lot of patience on my part, slowly changing and squawking on their part....

LOL chickens hate change, when I started using Sweet PDZ on the floor of the roost area they would not step in it and would fly up to the roost and it's only 8" above the floor. It was so funny to watch them... now they don't even notice it.

JT