Scratching Out Nesting

[MotherHen75]

My little silkie just laid an egg yesterday! So i changed the nest material so it’s fresh for her, she’s scratching it all out! Is it normal? I think she’s about 5-6 months, which i think is pretty young for a silkie. Has anyone had experience with this?

 

[Ridgerunner]

What does your nest look like? Often chickens like to rearrange the bedding before laying an egg, this can involve scratching. I've solved this problem in the past by raising the lip on the nest so it's harder for them to scratch the bedding, fake eggs, or real eggs out.

 

[chickens really]

Pretty normal for most new layers. Put a strip of wood so she can't kick out the bedding.

 

[Shadrach]

My little silkie just laid an egg yesterday! So i changed the nest material so it’s fresh for her, she’s scratching it all out! Is it normal? I think she’s about 5-6 months, which i think is pretty young for a silkie. Has anyone had experience with this?

Yes it's normal. The reason they scratch out the bedding isn't so much they don't want the bedding in the nest, it's because they are trying to create a hollow in the nest to lay the eggs in.
This article may help illustrate the problem.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...e-make-a-sitting-hens-job-so-difficult.74389/

 

[Henry&Friends]

You don’t have to change the nesting daily- only if one poops in there or if it’s infested, or if you decide to. She may be trying to hollow it out, or she may be throwing a tantrum. Try not to mess with it as little as possible, because she may now reject the nest- it was cooler before.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You don’t have to change the nesting daily- only if one poops in there or if it’s infested, or if you decide to. She may be trying to hollow it out, or she may be throwing a tantrum. Try not to mess with it as little as possible, because she may now reject the nest- it was cooler before.

I clean out nests twice a year. The chickens do not appreciate it at all. They like it bowled in the middle with all the little sticks and twigs they pull in, not clean and fluffed up.

 

[MotherHen75]

Well the way the coup is set up is weird, the perch is too close to the boxes and gets poop in them. That’s why i cleaned it out, lotta poop. We’re getting a new one soon, just gotta pick it up.

 

[aart]

Mine don't mind new straw in nests, but I do pack it in and 'bowl' it out a bit.
New layers will tear up nests until they get used to laying.