sue62 Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 My 2 of my girls have just started laying this week.I broke 1 of the eggs into a jug and found a white /grey lump in the white,it looked like a cooked grain of rice. has anyone heard of this before ? Also... they have stared to empty the nest box out,straw everywhere. Every time i put more in they pulled it out. Are they looking for the eggs ? Grateful for any replies . thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Hello and welcome to the forum. The behaviour you describe is typical of a bird about to come into lay. They are nesting. They give up after a while. The grey lump is probably just a blip as it is a first egg. Probably won't happen again. It might just be a tiny bit of tissue or a speck of blood shed in the oviduct which has somehow got incorporated into the first egg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Ditto to everything Egluntine has said - they'll soon settle down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Hello Sue, welcome to the forum . My girls' nestbox ends up empty quite quickly too . I think they rummage around making it comfy for laying and most of it ends up over the sides. You could try shredded paper instead - maybe they won't do it with that?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 No, mine do it with shredded paper as well the hole in the cube nest box doesn't help - most of whatever I put in gets scratched through the hole Agree about the grey lump, sounds like a bit of tissue - a meat spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackiepoppies Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Hi Sue62, All my chooks used to make a real mess when I first had them Snowy, I had the problem of wood shavings that I was using in the nest box falling through the hole. I had some leftover stiff plastic fly screen material that I cut to size and that works perfectly. I didn't stick it down so it's really easy to clean. Hope that helps! Jackiex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue62 Posted September 5, 2008 Author Share Posted September 5, 2008 My 2 of my girls have just started laying this week.I broke 1 of the eggs into a jug and found a white /grey lump in the white,it looked like a cooked grain of rice. has anyone heard of this before ? Also... they have stared to empty the nest box out,straw everywhere. Every time i put more in they pulled it out. Are they looking for the eggs ? Grateful for any replies . thanks Hi, thankyou for all your replies. I didnt realise chickens could be so messy! And i was becoming rather paranoid about bugs and worms etc. Today had a softtie and a dodgy shell egg , You have put my mind at rest that things will get better. Just wish it would stop raining ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
