flamingo Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Does anyone else have a problem with wet beds? My broody pekin and 3 chicks - 8 weeks - are all sleeping in the eglu nestbox which I line with newspaper and straw. This seems to get wet after a few days and I can't understand it. I've tried stuffing the hole in the base with plastic in case the wet grass was seeping upwards, so it must be coming from the chickens! But I thought that, like all birds, they only did poos and not wees. Any ideas what's going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 One of my eglus has a slight leak from the eggport door. Only in torrential rain and when the eglu is in a certain position so not serious. More the odd drip if anything but I have to remember how to position it. Are you sure it is not that? The door of this eglu is much looser fit than my other one which certainly does not have a drip. Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Straw in itself can get a bit damp and claggy. Why not try something like Aubiose and see if matters improve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 we put a piece of cardboard over the whole in the nesting box and fill the box with shredded paper yes, they eat it and it flattens down really quickly, but they seem happy enough cathy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 The white part of a chickens poo is the wee,if you see what I mean! Bedding that has been poo'd on will get very damp as it absorbs the wet from the poo. If they are sleeping in the nest box, the bedding will really need changing daily, otherwise they will be sleeping in their excreta which will irritate their feathers and skin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 That'll be the newspaper - it 'wicks' moisture towards it. I wouldn't ever use that, or straw in my housing. Aubiose does the job brilliantly and is never wet or mouldy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 We use wood shavings in the nest box. We have a nest box sleeper so we change the bedding most days. We have found that the sheets of newspaper in the base of our homemade house get very wet after a couple of days. We have increased the ventilation which has helped a bit but we change the paper every couple of days and again use wood shavings in the nest boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingo Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share Posted August 23, 2009 Thanks everyone. Looks as though I need to be changing their bedding more often! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkl Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Hi - my 2 used to sleep in the nesting area which meant changing the bedding daily. Then I put a plastic box in the nesting area overnight for one week. Now they don't use the nesting area for sleeping - only laying! Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingo Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 Yes, could try blocking off the nestbox but chicks are only about 9 weeks old and not sure they're ready for that yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
