they kick out all the shavings

[Suess hens]

I pile up the shavings in the nesting boxes for my girls...thinking it would be nice and plush. But they rut and push and scratch it all out to the sides until they hit the bottom. Why?

 

[EllyMae]

Because they are saying "Hey, look what I can do!"...no seriously, they are such curious boogers and they like to see what's underneath that stuff.

 

[skeeter]

thats what they do they scratch out a nest,thats why I like straw better than shavings,and make sure the walls of the nest box are high

 

[bearz]

Quote:
I got sick them doing that so I turned the nesting boxes on their sides so all 4 sides are high and the top is open and they like that much better and the shavings stay in.

I have also found that they like buckets filled 1/2 way with straw...like 5 gallon buckets or storage boxes. We get the cats litter in 35# boxes and I put rocks on the bottom and wedge them in tight so they don't move and the hens like those too.

 

[IB chicken]

We were using cat litter buckets but have switched to a portable modular bucket with a lid. The front lip is high enough that they haven't been able to kick their shavings out and it gives them more room to move around. They seem to really enjoy it!

 

[backintime]

I had to tack up 5-inch strips of wood across the fronts of my nesting boxes, as my hens were kicking all their shavings back into the coop. They still manage to scratch some of the shavings over the top of the wood strips! I had tried cardboard, but it didn't hold up. Every day I throw in a few handfuls of shavings, otherwise I end up with broken eggs.

 

[Superior Chicks]

This is as instinctive to chickens as drawing a breath. They are trying to make an indentation in the nesting material (think of chickens in the wild now, not in your nice comfy nesting box) or a "catch". This is where all the eggs (future chickens to a chicken) will be deposited. Then they can easily and comfortably sit ontop the "catch".

It is just instinct.

We keep straw in the nest boxes (pine shavings everywhere else) as they seem to prefer this material for "nest building."
Ever notice how 1 or 2 boxes get continually used? We had 8 hens and 36 nesting boxes. They always used only the same 2 boxes! Like a waiting line all day for those two primo nests!

Anyway, my humble 2 cents

Ma

 

[miss_jayne]

this is what we have:

they still like to kick it out a bit, but it lasts longer with a barrier.

btw, that's Half-Pint in there doing her thing. good nest model, isn't she?

 

[mylilchix]

I have a 2"-3" barrier in front of my nest boxes, but the hens still like to kick all of the bedding out. I recently put carpet scraps in all of my nest boxes with the bedding on top. They still kick the bedding out, but they still have something cushy to lay on. My hens seem to really enjoy the carpet!

Sonja

 

[Suess hens]

Quote:
I can just see my husband (a flooring contractor) looking at me when I ask him for some left over pieces for the chickens. One of our boxes has a 6" lip on it because DH decided to nail one up. And our girls seem to make rounds of all the boxes. One even laid in the dog kennel I added for the polish girls--they abandoned it and apparently my BR decided it was where she wanted to lay her eggs...I had taken out all the shavings. Oh chickens!