4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Haltonshappyhens]

Hello,

I wondered if anyone could suggest what is going on behind closed doors! We had two very well behaved chickens who ate when fed, roosted at night in the eglu and never used the nest.( they were too young). We very successfully introduced a black rock who instantly earned her keep by laying an egg a day for about 8 weeks (then she stopped!) Every day i put fresh straw in the nest box and every afternoon it has been scattered all over the eglu.. making the nest bit a bear and chilly place to lay and it means I have to clean out the tray every day.. cos the dropping do anything but drop!!.. its chocka with straw!.. cosy I imagine but a real pain because today... the Cream legbar layed her first weighing in at 40gms and poor little lady did it in an empty plasic nest!!.. any suggestions really welcome .. oh and the girls have a lovely dust bath of soil and sand that they have access to every day and use.. its all very odd.......

[Egluntyne]

Why not try Aubiose...a type of horse bedding. It stays put beautifully.

[hillfamily]

Over the years all of my girls have had fun flinging out all of the straw, when I have spent ages creating a lovely nest box for them

 

I have found that those not yet in lay, have flung the straw as part of their investigating - I have started to think that they think it's a game - they fling it out......I put it back.....they fling it out.....can you see where this going

 

Those coming into lay want to practise creating a nice nest but they just get a bit over zealous and fling too much out

 

And those that are laying like to fling straw over themselves and consequently out of the nestbox as part of the finishing touches to their nests

 

I have to say that as my girls matured, they stopped this habit and the straw now remains neatly in the nest box :D

[chocchick]

Hello,

I wondered if anyone could suggest what is going on behind closed doors! We had two very well behaved chickens who ate when fed, roosted at night in the eglu and never used the nest.( they were too young). We very successfully introduced a black rock who instantly earned her keep by laying an egg a day for about 8 weeks (then she stopped!) Every day i put fresh straw in the nest box and every afternoon it has been scattered all over the eglu.. making the nest bit a bear and chilly place to lay and it means I have to clean out the tray every day.. cos the dropping do anything but drop!!.. its chocka with straw!.. cosy I imagine but a real pain because today... the Cream legbar layed her first weighing in at 40gms and poor little lady did it in an empty plasic nest!!.. any suggestions really welcome .. oh and the girls have a lovely dust bath of soil and sand that they have access to every day and use.. its all very odd.......

Give up and laugh? Mine like to drag newspaper out of the tray, rip and scatter in the run. Needless to say I just have aubiose in the tray and have to fend off the chickens (as they like to dig in it) until it is safely installed under the bars.

They also dug a random hole in the lawn one day (not for dust bathing) then lost interest shortly after. I still slip on it occasionally.

Your black rock is so chickeny laying constantly then randomly giving up I've found they tend to pick up the bad habits from each other.

[The Dogmother]

I always recommend to use Aubiose rather than straw, which is inclined to get damp underneath the top layer. This encourages bacteria (and smells!) to breed.

[Hen Watch]

I'm an Auboise fan too. But I do have one chook who likes to pick it up and chuck it on her back just after she has laid an egg. Luckily it's such fine stuff it makes no mess and she stops after a few throws....

[The Dogmother]

That's all part of the nesting process, in the wild they throw sticks over their backs or onto their backs to simulate nest building.

 

They won't stop doing it but you can minimise the mess by using a different nesting material.

[Groovychook]

Why not try Aubiose...a type of horse bedding. It stays put beautifully.

I wish mine did!! The girls scoot it all through the gap in the bottom of the nesting box! I've tried putting newspaper over the gap & then covering that with aubiose but they shred it as quickly as possible... naughty girls.

I've only just switched from hemcore which remained perfectly intact. Having said that, I much prefer the aubiose- much kinder on your hands when emptying it out of the bale!

[Haltonshappyhens]

can you please tell me what this aubiose is?? and where to get it.. although today Onion the cream legbar kindly left me a second and the three of them had left a fair amount of straw in the right place too.. ho humm.. never a dull moment !

[Hen Watch]

can you please tell me what this aubiose is?? and where to get it.. although today Onion the cream legbar kindly left me a second and the three of them had left a fair amount of straw in the right place too.. ho humm.. never a dull moment !

 

It's horse bedding made from hemp. "Auboise" is the French make and "Hemcore" is English. You get it from horse supply shops - so look in your yellow pages for Tack Shops or Equestrian supplies. Costs £8-9 per bale. One lasts me ages.

 

I use it 1 inch deep to cover the run floor, also in the nest box and and a teacup sized sprinkling the the poop tray. It soaks up poops amazingly. Must be kept dry though so you need a run cover. I change the stuff in the run every 6 weeks.

 

 

Edit as having photo trouble....grr

[sheik]

I wonder if you can continue to use straw but bind it up into mini "sheaves" and use that to line the nesting box? They would still scatter them about but it would be easy to put them back in again.

 

/\dam

[jomaxsmith]

I use Easibed which is another horsey bedding material but is made of fine woodchip - not as fine as shavings, it is similar in consistency to Aubiose and Hemcore. I find it better than the hemp ones as it (a) stays drier and doesn't smell in the run and (b) costs a couple of quid less per bale

 

It's not showing much sign of composting very well though - I've got an enormous compost bin of over a cubic metre that is full full full!

 

Jo

[Haltonshappyhens]

thankyou for all the top tips and the photo.. Today was a mess again and now its been two days since she laid an egg... is this usual for 'beginners' or should I be concerned??

[chocchick]

It's quite normal. It depends on the chicken and hybrids are more reliable. If you look up breeds they often have an egg count e.g. 250 per year which means there will not be an egg everyday.They slow down/stop in winter, if moulting, or if broody. They can be more erratic at first.