So I changed the nesting boxes to straw and they are making a mess!!!!

[Ole rooster]

Chris, the way you're talking about never having to deal with a chickens "passing", must mean you've never had to bleed out a chicken and dress it to eat. I mean the boiling water and plucking feathers. I guess you would call that murder in the first degree. Premeditated. I care about my chickens but that ain't people.

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

Quote:
It was sad as my girls are my pets as well. The feeling is the same as with my dogs. I had to put 2 of my dogs down. It is sad but you go on.

No, never had to bleed out a chicken as mine aren't meant for eating. I guess when you have chickens meant for food, you aren't that attached to them. Fatten them up and then to freezer camp. My grandparents did all that on the farm. My grandfather was the butcher and it wasn't just chickens, it was cows and pigs as well.

 

[Zigmont]

Quote:
Maybe somehow they are related.

The chicken family tree. Probably a website....

 

[bald egg]

I tried straw in the boxes and shavings on the floor. They did the same thing!! Pulled all the straw out and made a big stinking mess!!! Stupid Chickens. Now I use pine shavings in the boxes as well as the floor.

 

[cravenchx]

Any suggestions on how "deep" the straw should be?

 

[ginger girl]

This is so funny! I'm new to hens and just recently they started to kick their floor straw out. I would go in to check on them and I would say they were having a "dance". I made their little outside door smaller with a lip on the bottom and now their door is only big enough for one hen at a time to enter or leave, which can be funny to watch sometimes. I have their run covered also, and put hay down so they always have a nice dry area to hang out. My reducing the door size solved the problem. I have to keep lots of hay in there because we live in a cold climate and I want them to be cozy.

 

[ginger girl]

Adding a note to my last post, my girls never mess with, or in their nest area. I have not had to change it once since June. I have hay in there.