Roll out nest box bedding?

[DoeAndGander]

So I’m thinking the next batch of chicks I get I will have to build a new coop for so they don’t have the same habits. Now that my whole flock of 7 are pretty much into egg eating I think my only option is to cull or fight this issue until this batch passes. It’s constant two steps fwd and one step back. 2 of the 7 use the roll out nest boxes - the others lay in lower corner on the comfy bedding ( don’t blame them really!) I have to catch eggs just about as they’re being laid. This chicken gig has gotten to be a pain in the rear!

Any suggestions on adding some sort of bedding to roll out boxes and the ability for egg to roll out is appreciated! My only idea is hot glue bedding so it’s on the sides and not bottom of box

 

[Chad Oftedal]

Yeah, I know. I have the pictures, I just need to take an afternoon and update the page.

Here's the current setup with the poop board lowered. Hen for scale.

Here's where they were originally at, taken right before I lowered them.

From memory, I believe it was about 8 inches lower in the new position where it is now.

I hadn't thought of lowering the bar again in the evening after they have gone in to roost. That might be something I could integrate. I'm down to just one bird that sits on the outer bar at night - and not always at that. They used to play "fort" and sleep all the way on the inside. Now, the one just uses it as a roost bar - at least that's what I'm seeing on my coop camera.

 

[Chad Oftedal]

Why are your birds pooping in the nests...are they sleeping in them?

Yep, that's exactly what was happening. It was an odd situation. I had only a couple birds that were interested in the nest box for laying. At night, I had a couple of birds that would use the nest box as a roost - happened to be my heavier birds. So, I tried for a while lifting the entrance bar to the nest box up at night, preventing the roosting. That was all fine, but then I couldn't be out to the coop in time in the morning to lower it again before they'd want to lay (morning routine/kids/work). This created a cycle where the early layers would use the floor. Now, it should be noted, even when the bar was left down, some of these early layers would still use the floor. But, the main point being that even if I wanted to train them to use the box, I was sabotaging it by not lowering the bar back down early enough in the morning.

So, researching one day on the site here, I came across some posts talking about poop board and roost bar heights, and it mentioned that for the landing zone, you want clear available space twice the distance out from the edge as the board is high. So, say the poop board is 24" high off the floor, well then you'd want 48" of landing zone distance from the edge for them to fly down. I got to thinking that when I positioned my boards, I put them at a comfortable work height for me, and assumed that since it felt like a pretty good distance from the edge of the board to the people door of the coop (their landing area) that all was fine. Well, after grabbing the tape measure and doing the math, it quickly became obvious that if I wanted to follow that rule of thumb, my birds were going to have to be capable of physical feats (flying through physical barriers) that I've only seen done on Star Trek, and even then I'm not so sure they aren't faking it...

Anyway, I lowered the boards down by 8" or so and that brought the end of the landing distance to being back inside the coop - if you want to follow that rule. It wasn't a big hardship on me, and now the birds have a more comfortable landing zone for getting back down.

The take-a-ways that I think I learned from this:
1. Young birds are pretty adaptable to non-ideal setups because they're still young and agile. Much like kids, they seem to find a way to make it work and not complain much. My, shall we say, bigger boned birds, while still the same age, couldn't as easily make those adjustments, so they adapted in other ways.
2. We all tease about these birds not being the brightest critters, and in some cases, it's absolutely true - they are just being stubborn. In other cases, though, they are telling us things by their actions and adaptations they are making in the only way that they can. It's up to us to decipher what's being said by their actions.
3. Similar to #2 - if I come across an undesirable behavior, instead of initially dismissing it as silly bird behavior, is there maybe a reason it is happening? Sure, you have to be careful here and use some common sense, but they might be telling you more than you think. In my case, even though my birds were all the same age, the lighter ones were able to adapt pretty easily to the shortened landing area coming off the roost. The heavier birds were not. Both groups of birds found solutions.
4. Just because everything is working fine today doesn't mean it's ideal for the long term. This is a bit of speculation for sure, but as the lighter birds in this case aged, their ability to adjust to the landing area may have become more and more difficult. A good idea when making changes or setting something new up for them to use is to consider if it is usable for all your birds while young and old, light or heavy. Again, I get that you can't account for everything, and mistakes drive a lot of learning, and that's OK. But, if you can spot something that an older bird might have trouble with, well, a heavier bird might struggle there as well.

 

[aart]

So, I tried for a while lifting the entrance bar to the nest box up at night, preventing the roosting. That was all fine, but then I couldn't be out to the coop in time in the morning to lower it again before they'd want to lay (morning routine/kids/work).

I close my nests an hour before roosting time, then open back up after dark when I do the head count and lock up the coop. Not sure if that'll fit your schedule better or not.
I can almost picture your coop plan sketch in my head,
and thought I'd seen pics<scratcheshead>
but I see no finished interior shots on your coop page.

 

[azygous]

What bedding are you currently using in the roll-outs?

I seen astro-turf (plastic grass carpet) used in roll-out boxes and the hens seem to be fine with it.

 

[DoeAndGander]

What bedding are you currently using in the roll-outs?

I seen astro-turf (plastic grass carpet) used in roll-out boxes and the hens seem to be fine with it.

I was using chunky pine shavings but eggs we’re getting caught up in them. I’m currently not using anything but linoleum flooring. My older hens love to nest before lay. I’ll look into Astro-turf - hopefully that’s my ticket. Thanks!

 

[Chad Oftedal]

I bought my roll out nestbox from HenGear. This is the model that I got - just for reference: https://hengear.com/products/rollout-nest-box-small

This one came with the brown plastic nest pad and works well. It did get clogged up with poo, though over time. I thought I would save a bit of money by getting one of those black rubber squishy door mats from a big box store like Home Depot. I picked one up that was large enough to be cut into two nest pads that were the same size as the one that came with the nest box. So, I go to use them, and the birds don't mind, but what I did notice is that they trapped the poo even faster. I didn't really expect that or think the design would matter, but it did with the door mat that I chose. I guess what I'm trying to say in all this is that in my experience, there seems to be something to the style/design of the mat that came with my nest box. I'm not advocating that specific brand, just that it might be worth seeing if can find a mat that is designed for poultry nest boxes in general. I thought I'd try to save a few bucks here, but it didn't work out that way for me. I now have a second nest pad and just swap one out for a bit while I clean the other. Anyway, that was just the experience that I had that I thought I'd share.

 

[Molpet]

I bought the gray roll out mats

 

[ColoradoPip]

I have these but haven't used them yet, they're for my next chickens.

https://www.flemingoutdoors.com/kuhl-plastic-nest-pads.html

 

[Chad Oftedal]

I have these but haven't used them yet, they're for my next chickens.

https://www.flemingoutdoors.com/kuhl-plastic-nest-pads.html

Nice! That design looks pretty much exactly like the brown ones that I have for mine. I think you'll be happy with them.