Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[the bradley bunch]

Hi,

 

I've recently become the proud owner of 3 ex-battery hens (just two days ago!), and as a first time chicken keeper I've come across my first puzzle!

 

One of my girls keeps bringing the straw out of the hen house and into the run, and is proceeding to eat it. I don't know whether this is normal or safe, but the problem we've got is that she keeps getting the long pieces of straw stuck down her neck - so that part of the straw is still sticking out of her beak.

 

She obviously doesn't like this because she then gets herself in a tizzy and tries to s"Ooops, word censored!"e the straw out of her beak along the floor or by using her feet. This never works and me and hubby always end up having to pull it out of her beak for her (which isn't the greatest solution because she is still settling in and therefore gets a bit frightened when we try to approach her in the run).

 

To try and eliminate the problem I tried chopping the straw into smaller pieces (still about 10cm long), but she has continued to eat the straw and still gets the odd longer one stuck.

 

I don't know whether to laugh or be worried because I don't know if eating straw is normal behaviour or even if it's safe.

 

I'm thinking about stopping using straw and using dust-free wood shavings instead, but before I do this I was just wondering if anyone more experienced could give me some advice.... Thank you

[Jennyhenny]

Hi,

 

I used straw in the nest box when I first got our girls and one kept eating it, she ended up with an impacted crop and we had to feed her live maggots so they could eat the blockage it took a few days but it worked in the end we now use wood shavings in the nest box and hemcore on the floor of the run.

 

Jennyhenny

[Margaret]

Hello, and welcome to the wonderful world of being a Chicken Mummy.

I think straw is not good for the girlies, due to the dust and also eating it can cause crop problems.

I'm sure somebody with more knowledge will be along soon but I have never used it, swear by Auboise in the WIR and Eglu.

[the bradley bunch]

thank you for the welcoming and for the speedy replies so far!

ooo the maggot thing doesn't sound too pleasant, and i'm not sure poor old dorris would be too pleased about that either! lol

i think i'm gonna switch over to wood shavings or similar asap!

[Carol U]

Straw can cause a lot of problems if they decide to eat it. There are lots of other things you can use, e.g. hemcore, aubiose, woodshavings - you can even use paper from a shredder, although you'd have to change it frequently as it gets a bit damp.