Stuff to Put Inside Nesting Boxes? They Keep Pushing the Bedding Out :(

[TMurphey]

The substrate in the nesting boxes should be different from the substrate in the bedding. I use hay for the boxes and shavings for the coop bedding.
I also suggest you to make the lip taller. Chickens are happier if there is a thick layer of comfortable hay in the box so the taller the lip, the more hay you can fit in the box.

I tried chopped straw and I found that it would stain the eggs. When the eggs are first laid, they are wet and the straw gets wet and leaves a yellowish stain. Does hay do the same?

 

[DDan]

I had that problem with shavings so I changed the bedding material to aspen excelsior. It is cheap and easily managed, and the hens can compress a depression in the center to hold their eggs. It also composts well when past its usefulness.

 

[Ann in Wyoming]

Hi! We've been having a rather annoying issue with our girls. I keep putting wood shavings inside the coop and nesting boxes, and they keep moving the wood shavings out of the nesting boxes so they are bare. Is there something else I should be using in the nesting boxes? At this point I'm not really sure what to do because I keep putting more wood shavings in there, and they keep kicking them out.
Thanks!

I have the rubber pads in my nesting boxes (washable) in the chicken house and I use straw in the boxes inside the coops (two set up in the chicken house, one gets moved to the enclosure in the summer). Mine just prefer straw to shavings.

 

[Altairsky]

I tried chopped straw and I found that it would stain the eggs. When the eggs are first laid, they are wet and the straw gets wet and leaves a yellowish stain. Does hay do the same?

This never happened to me. I use rice or wheat straw, or hay. Never had this issue.

 

[Ruby32835]

Try switching to dry grass cuttings or chopped straw, BTW how deep is your nesting box?

I have the same problem with my hens. I switched to the nesting pads and I sprinkled them with aromatic herbs. They seem to like it, problem solved.

 

[Ann in Wyoming]

Hi! We've been having a rather annoying issue with our girls. I keep putting wood shavings inside the coop and nesting boxes, and they keep moving the wood shavings out of the nesting boxes so they are bare. Is there something else I should be using in the nesting boxes? At this point I'm not really sure what to do because I keep putting more wood shavings in there, and they keep kicking them out.
Thanks!

 

[Ann in Wyoming]

The Standlee Flock Fresh bedding is working well for us. And we do sprinkle the coop fresh weekly and add a handful of the herbal support to the food when we refill the buckets.

 

[Coopkeeper50]

Do your nesting boxes have a lip at the front? I prefer hay in my nesting boxes arranged in a circle like a bird's nest. It's not as easily kicked out and provides a soft landing area for the eggs.

I also use hay and they form the nest. I have plastic plant saucers in each side. I just throw the hay in. Usually there is a bare spot on the bottom. I just figure that is the way they like it as I put plenty in.

 

[Joanne2]

Hi! We've been having a rather annoying issue with our girls. I keep putting wood shavings inside the coop and nesting boxes, and they keep moving the wood shavings out of the nesting boxes so they are bare. Is there something else I should be using in the nesting boxes? At this point I'm not really sure what to do because I keep putting more wood shavings in there, and they keep kicking them out.
Thanks!

Try the nesting pads, my girls love them.
I also put in nesting herbs. Good luck