Pink Ladies Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Every time we clean out our chicken's eglu we put fresh straw into the nest box to make it nice and comfy for them. We have been doing this since we have had them however a few weeks ago the girls have had other ideas! Immediatly both chickens run in and push the straw inbetween the roosting bars or throw it out the door! We have tried putting straw under the roosting bars ourself in the hope that they will leave the nest box alone but they still move the straw out the second we reasseble the house. We are now collecting cracked eggs as they are falling onto the hard plastic. Today they even layed one out in the run. Any ideas why these bad ladies are doing this and what we can do to stop them as it is now a race to see who can put straw in and who can throw it out the quickest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinkychick Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 stop using straw? hehe sounds like you are loosing the battle... mine dont like straw, it even makes one of my girls sneeze alot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Ladies Posted November 9, 2008 Author Share Posted November 9, 2008 What do you put in the nesting box instead of straw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angels4 Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 I use straw (hemcore and auboise not available in the US) and my girls do the same with their straw, I thought I read on this forum once that is was a nesting instinct. Instead of the above mentioned items in the nest box some on here use shredded paper. that is what I will swith to as soon as I get through the HUGH bale of straw I bought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 I use Aubiose (like chopped soft straw/hemp type of stuff) in mine but I think it only comes in big bales but as I use it in the run too that's ok for me. You could also use soft wood shavings (not sawdust though) which you can usually get in small bags from pet shops. Shredded paper also seems fairly popular, if you have a cross cut shredder that would be better than long strips which might wrap around legs I guess.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 I use Aubiose. Why not put a couple of ceramic eggs in t the nest box to give them the idea about where to lay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurpleTree Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 I use shredded paper. My mum works in a post office and they do a huge amount of shredding of out of date leaflets and stuff so I have a plentiful supply. They always seem to wriggle around and move it around a lot though. Have noticed them try and eat it too - will it do them any harm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinkychick Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 i use easybed and shredded news paper... the latter gets thrown out by smeegal, so i mainly use the easybed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kez Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 I use shredded paper (cross shredder). They don't bother chucking that out, but they do like to drag out the two sheets of newspaper I put under the roosting bars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 How odd that they do that with the straw? I prefer Auboise (hemp horse bedding) in the nestbox. Recently I trialled shredded paper as I thought one of my chickens might have an allergy to Auboise, but I found that after 8 weeks they just kept eating the paper which can't be doing them any good, so I have gone back to Auboise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
