questions about poop in the lay boxes and more

[simba49450]

contrary to popular belief they dont need oyster shell unless you are planning on shipping the eggs. my last flock i had never got any oyster shell and the shells were fine, since my girls are penned i buy grit for them and no probs ever my girls now are 6 mon old and never had the stuff and they never will i dont even give them egg shells from the eggs that i buy now. (since they arent laying yet). and i feed them laying mash-as soon as they get through the 16% feed that is. so i say oyster shell isnt useful at all. and they have everything they need in thier feed and they are strong healthy

 

[Chirpy]

I went through the whole sleeping and pooping in the nest box thing. It gets real old having poopy eggs within a few months. I'd really work hard at stopping that behavior now.

My roosts were too low, the top one was equal in height or just above my top nest boxes. We moved the roosts much higher and farther away from the nest boxes and then, every single night for almost two full weeks I went out and moved my chickens from the nest boxes to the new roost. It messed them up that the roost was moved and the ones that slept in the nest boxes didn't want to go to the roosts. After almost a full two weeks of going out well after dark and moving nine hens individually, I finally got the last hen to figure out that she really did want to sleep up on the roosts. No more poopy nest boxes! Yippee!!!!

 

[Jenski]

There are lots of differing opinions on the oyster shells. My conclusion after researching this seems to be that if hens do not get sufficient extra calcium from their environment, it is leached from their bodies (mostly bones) to form the eggs. So then, just how much calcium do they need? Well, I let my hens figure that out; I picked up a small feed cup from the co-op and clipped it to the run fencing. I keep it full of grit and oyster shell, and the girls pick through it to get what they need.

Re. soiling the nest boxes ~ my girls did this before and shortly after they started laying, and they don't perch there any more (at least, usually not). I just keep an old bucket in my garden shed, and inside the bucket is a large cat litter scoop and a whisk broom. I just policed up the nest boxes (and coop) with this every morning after the hens came out to eat breakfast; it took all of 45 seconds, and my nest boxes stayed nice and clean.

Hope that info helps . . .

 

[angels4]

After all my girls have laid, I put a football in the nest box to block it off. During the night they are forced to roost on the bars, and not in the nest. Granted I have to make sure I get up early to remove the footbal, but to keep the nest clean and my eggs pooh free it's worth it.

 

[debilorrah]

Our nesting boxes are large - they poop around the nest, and we clean it weekly. We have yet to get a poopy egg.

 

[Beekissed]

1. I have nest boxes that have perches that can be folded up. When I get a broody or young pullet that wants to sleep in the nest, I just fold up the perches so they can't get in there, and put them down again in the morning. A week of this usually breaks them of the habit. Could you possibly build something of this nature or keep a piece of fencing handy to block off nests at night until you redirect them?

2. The chickens won't need golf balls to "encourage" them to lay...they will lay when its time and not before!

The golf balls are to encourage them to lay in the nest, and not elsewhere, when they do start to lay. Have had chickens most of my life and never used a golf ball.

 

[Heather J]

I've had problems with birds sleeping in/on edge of the nest boxes, because I didn't have enough roost space--fixed that--but I still have to pull the birds from the box at night. It's not as bad as it once was, though, so I'm hoping it'll end soon. When I switched from straw to pine shavings my eggs came out cleaner than before, even with the occasional poops in the box. I'm also considering just putting a bit of hardware cloth across the box in the evening and pulling it in the morning if they don't stop sleeping there--easy enough for the time being.

 

[playmeasong]

OHH, I love your new ideas--a football in the boxes!! so great, and i dread going out there every night for 2 weeks but I think that'll be most effective. I don't like when they peck at me when I try to pick them up at n ight.

Jen

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
I use gloves or a forked stick for this....with the stick, I just hold their heads down, while I reach behind it and grab their neck. Once I have that, I scoop the body and get that biddy out of there! Usually use this for broody hens that I don't want to go broody....they can be vicious!

 

[Beekissed]

sorry, posted twice...