What is in your nest boxes?

[sumi]

Most here I can imagine would like to say EGGS! And loads of them What I'm thinking about though is nesting materials. Just out of curiosity, what do you all use to cushion the nests? Grass, straw, sand?

 

[IamRainey]

I get a sort of excelsior bonded to brown paper cut into squares that fit a conventional nesting box. They do a fine job of cushioning the eggs. I hope they cushion the girls too. ...at least they're not complaining. The excelsior stays in the box because of the attachment to the paper. In time they get thin where the girls sit so I plop another pad on top. They hold up very well but when they're done for they just go in the compost.

 

[SweetTea&Chicks]

I currently use pine shavings but when the new coop gets done I’ll be switching to straw.

 

[AlleysChicks]

It depends what I have available at the time of cleaning. But what I really like (and the girls do too) is a nice thick layer of pine shavings with straw on top for them to form the nest.

 

[Pork Pie]

I use a combo of soil (ballast mainly), door mats (cut to size) and a few dried grass cuttings.

 

[Peppercorngal]

I use wood chips on the floor of the coop, but the girls really like the nice soft rice straw I use in their nests. They like to "arrange" it and sometimes they even steal a bit from the nest box next door! Wood chips in the boxes were mostly thrown out and eggs would be on the bare wood. Straw works best for us!

 

[Kiki]

I used to use shavings but go tired of them always kicking them out so I switched to hay and I am never looking back.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I use pine shavings.

 

[BlackHackle]

Most here I can imagine would like to say EGGS! And loads of them What I'm thinking about though is nesting materials. Just out of curiosity, what do you all use to cushion the nests? Grass, straw, sand?

I use horse bedding style wood shavings

 

[Folly's place]

I use shavings, or hay, or straw, and my hens are happy to rearrange any of it out of the boxes. Under it I've got folded feed bags, which are easy to replace when dirty.
I do think that hay works best as a topping.
Mary