Unsecure chicken perches

[Woodcat]

hey

 

Does anyone else have pekins who refuse to use their nesting boxes? They currently have 3 nesting boxes to choose from all of which are lovely. 1 has straw 1 has hemcore and one has a mixture of the two as i have two very fussy big girls one of whom will only lay in straw and if i don't giver her some she will improvise and drag plants into the nesting box and one who refuses to lay in anything other than hemcore. (spoilt much )

 

Last year the only pekin who came into lay wouldn't lay anywhere other than my bed and use to come in through the cat flap or the kitchen window or anyway she could possibly manage. She hasn't started up yet but her sister is now refusing to lay anywhere other than in the box on the cats scratching post. When shes in a mood it's almost impossible to keep her out the house short of locking it up like Fort Knox so i've been giving in and leaving her too it. I don't mind particually as at least i know where she is laying i'm just curious to see if anyone else has this problem or are my chickens just nutty

[jimnpaula]

You have got fussy girls!

 

Sorry I can't help but wanted to say I found their antics most amusing.

 

P

[Redwing]

I did once see a bucket on its side in my greenhouse and when righting it I found six eggs laid in it apart from that we have had few mishaps

 

I would leave the chooks in their run until they get the hang of it, if they range a little distance they may not be bothered to go back to lay and so its probably the 'imprinting' that is missing here

 

leaving a rubber egg in the nestbox may help remind them what its for

 

I also wouldnt let them range in the house what with that and the fussy bedding it sounds like your chooks have you well trained

[Woodcat]

I also wouldnt let them range in the house what with that and the fussy bedding it sounds like your chooks have you well trained

 

It's not a question of letting they are determind madams and can get through the cat flap mostly i don't know they are in till i fall over them or can't find them in the garden

[Margaret]

When All of my girlies started to lay again after christmas we had a bit of a queue so gave them a cat carry box as well, So.... they all queued to go in there

Last week they found a £2.00 trug full of Auboise in the shed so now all lay in there

They cross their little legs until I get home from work run down the garden path and shout until I open the door.

Why spend thousand on them and all they want is a £2.00 trug from Asda

 

+ Very expensive WIR

Lavender

Mable

Marjorie

Violet

[chickyhazel]

Our chickens are pretty normal but my friends chicken decided it wanted to live in a tree and lay in a cardboard box in the garage A rubber or plastic egg like the ones you get in cheap egg and spoon sets is a good idea. Maybe you should keep your chickens in a run and put in a nice bucket full of shredded paper or somthing for them to lay in so they can't lay in the house. Eventually they will learn.

[Woodcat]

They cross their little legs until I get home from work run down the garden path and shout until I open the door.

 

Sounds like my lot. I'm very loath to try the plastic egg route as i've got two persistent brooders so eggs are removed almost as soon as they are laid n tbh she's not much trouble when she comes in she doesn't poo inside mostly or make any mess she pops in and either says hallo and has a snuggle then pops out or she climbs into her spot lays her egg and then pops back out. She prefers the garden so only comes in if she hasn't seen enough of me or she wants to lay.

 

I tend to give my lot a choice of nesting material because otherwise they simply go off and build their own either by digging up the garden or in one girls case collecting bits of plants and taking them back into her house after she has totally trashed it n kicked all of the bedding out. i didn't have straw at one point so half of them appeared to go on strike and i only discovered that they'd been laying in the back of the run beside the their dust bath so the eggs were covered when i stepped on them slipped over and landed on them . Lost 16 eggs it's not that much effort to give them the choice n it means i get eggs to eat rather than getting covered in them as i said i don't mind that much i just wondered if it was a pekin thing or a my chickens thing if you see what i mean

 

Also she knows where she is suppose to lay because when she is gearing up she checks all the nesting boxes out and has a sit in them all but just wont use em