WHAT THE FLOCK???

[21hens-incharge]

OMG!! Thanks first for responding!! Velcro pads!!!! Brilliant!! And fake eggs? Who'd have thought.... Will pink plastic easter ones with no chocolates inside suffice??
Any whose.... here's pic's. No judgy!! This is my first go at chicken keeping since I was a child and it's technically not allowed in my county...shhhhh! So my top notch Amazon coop is a good way to get my feet wet and decide if I'm successful at this and like it, lolol! I only have 3, a barred rock and 2 road island reds. The barred rock is the boss, and most likely the trouble maker.

Your roosts are to low.....just small speed bumps on the way to the nest box really....

You will need to make modifications to the coop so the nests are not looking like the highest point.

I would look at making the dividers go the full height of the nest box and raising the roosts at least 6 inches.

@aart posted a link to how someone else dealt with the poor design. Have you looked through it?

 

[Katbec]

Yes I thought the Velcro pads were brilliant to! To bad it’s a DIY thing - here’s what you could do if your like me and don’t know how to sew (or in my case jam up the machine every time without fail): Buy a piece of fleece fabric, and cut it to the size of the nest box. Then buy some of those strong adhesive velcro strips, attach one side of the the Velcro to the nest box, and the other side to the fleece square (make sure the strips line up when you put it in the nest box) I don’t know how well the adhesive sticks to fleece but if it just doesn’t, you can find some alternatives to the adhesive kind (you will need the adhesive kind for the nest box part though so it will stick lol) finally, you can slap that fleece square in the nest box, and repeat the process for all three nest boxes! The fleece fabric can come in all different colors and patterns so that you can make it cute and custom! For the fake eggs, you can order a pack of 10 or less/more on Amazon, the pink one may be a little over the top (don’t think they will recognize it as an egg but it’s worth a shot!) but you can try it for now until you can put some clay/porcelain fake eggs in there- relatively cheap as I recall. You could try some Yellow Easter eggs if you’ve got em! Your set up looks perfect for your number of birds (btw those both happen to be strong layers so they certainly won’t fail to give you some nice eggs!) and nobody’s got a spotless coop! My barred rocks are so full of personality and just love to get in trouble (if you’ve seen my post in the BYC pumpkin carving contest, you will see that one of my BRs helped carve one of the pumpkins in the garden . your not the first to sneak chickens- I mean they’re irresistible!

I have sewn my share of Halloween costumes over the years so I know my way around the machine (with my hammer close by ). I see just what your describing, I think. I'll get on it next week!! I'm having a great time with my 3!! Can't wait for that first egg!!!

 

[CHlCKEN]

I have sewn my share of Halloween costumes over the years so I know my way around the machine (with my hammer close by ). I see just what your describing, I think. I'll get on it next week!! I'm having a great time with my 3!! Can't wait for that first egg!!!

I hope I was clear enough! Glad you can use the machine (even a if there is a bit of struggle) you could work your way around using a sewn on Velcro if that’s a thing
Maybe it will stay on better I would probably avoid machine washing the pads and probably just spot cleaning- (
if your willing to put it in your machine (if you have one) you could also make a machine washable version! Just throw em in and let them air dry

 

[rosemarythyme]

Normal for chickens to kick bedding out of nest boxes as they get closer to point of lay. A nice lip on the nest boxes, like 3" (not sure how high yours are), will help keep nest bedding in.

Unless you're looking for a sewing project, skip the velcro pads. Just fold up empty feed bags to snugly fit into the nest box, and that should help provide padding - free, fast, and recycles what most people toss. Top with your bedding of choice.

I use plastic coated bags for my padding so you can even wipe those off if needed.

You didn't answer if the chickens are sleeping in there at night, but my guess is that's why the boxes are being soiled. You need to raise the roost bars to encourage them to use them, and block up the nests at night until they're no longer sleeping in them.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I agree with those roosts being too low. Chickens like to sleep at the highest point in the coop for safety and with those roosts as low as they are (really just part of the floor), the nest boxes are the safest point. I would raise the roosts to at least higher than the nest boxes if possible. That should solve at least some of your issues.

 

[Katbec]

We are definitely going to raise the roosts!!! Hahaha!! Sorry, can't resist a stupid pun!! Thanks for the suggestions, I will incorporate them all. Wish me luck!!

 

[Katbec]

Your roosts are to low.....just small speed bumps on the way to the nest box really....

You will need to make modifications to the coop so the nests are not looking like the highest point.

I would look at making the dividers go the full height of the nest box and raising the roosts at least 6 inches.

@aart posted a link to how someone else dealt with the poor design. Have you looked through it?

Absolutely, and will modify ASAP. Do you suggest blocking the boxes until modifications are completed?? Should take a week.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Absolutely, and will modify ASAP. Do you suggest blocking the boxes until modifications are completed?? Should take a week.

I would block them at least at night.

 

[Katbec]

UPDATE: NEW & IMPROVED (hopefully) Roosts are raised and with luck nature will take its course and soon I'll reopen the nesting boxes with washable pads and fake eggs... lol!! I'm pretty certain that homesteaders of old didn't go through such hoops for their girls!!! Lolol

 

[Katbec]

Absolutely, and will modify ASAP. Do you suggest blocking the boxes until modifications are completed?? Should take a week.

Here's the modification. I have the nesting boxes blocked for now. Will they find their own way up to the roosts?? Lol