Chicken bald back

[Tigerfrogg]

I have used shredded paper in the nesting box of the cube and the chickens take great delight in standing underneath the the drainage slot and pulling it through, i have also seen one lady eat an entire strand.

 

Will this do them any harm or are they just getting ready to lay there first egg and are trying to get the print off the paper so they can come out date stamped ?

 

Plus how long till you had a good cuddle i have managed to cuddle Optimus twice she was a lot calmer the second time and dipped her head, Megatron kept her head upright whilst giving me the eyeball the others point blank refuse to give cuddles, have spent 3 hours sat inside there run with them today they are getting used to me being with them as they just walk around me as if i wasnt there most of the time tbh.

[Gelbel]

I've had mine 3 months and they are not very cuddley at all. Only once has one snuggled down into my arms. The only time they give half a hint of liking a cuddle is these early nights when they have gone to bed before I lock them in - I have a little check of them and a little stroke and they make happy little grunting noises. Even then Joy will look to get up and out of the way so I leave them when she looks to do this.

 

Perhaps they are not cuddly girls - my Mum said I'd wail as a baby when people tried to cuddle me.

[Dawno]

Hi

 

My lot used to take great delight in pulling the straw through the drainage slot so i put one of those flexible thin plastic chopping boards over the hole. The plastic sits slightly raised so any water would still drain, its also easier to change their bedding as you can just lift it out, bend the plastic and empty straight into bag or composter.

 

Hope this helps.

[The Dogmother]

It's not a good idea to use shredded paper or straw in their bedding - if they eat it then it may lead to an impacted crop . Stick to Aubiose or wood shavings.

[Hen Watch]

I use Auboise horse bedding in the nestbox, sprinkled in poop tray and also on floor of their covered run.

 

I did experiment with shredded paper and 3 of my chooks were fine with it. But my one chook (who is prone to sour crop anyway) used to munch her way through it every day. So I gave up and went back to Auboise.

 

I guess the more you handle the chooks the more used to it they will be. My lot are not cuddly chickens but then I don't really cuddle them myself. I do handle them to check for mites and to give medication but apart from that I don't bother. But then lots of folk on here to cuddle theirs and have that bond.

[Gelbel]

It's not a good idea to use shredded paper or straw in their bedding - if they eat it then it may lead to an impacted crop . Stick to Aubiose or wood shavings.

 

Mine don't eat it. Don't even play football with it and drag it around the run - they are

 

They just like lying in it and pooing in it.

[Busybird]

I have used shredded paper in the nesting box since I got my first girlies. I can believe that other types of bedding are better but the paper is free. It generally needs changing every day (soggy and pooey) and sometimes gets dragged into the run which looks messy and tempts the chooks to eat it. If I keep up with the henhousework then I don't find this is a problem.