Doreen

[jimnpaula]

Warm water?

 

P

[Barkisland]

Phew! What a performance. We managed to separate the boxes eventually, and they are now installed in the chicken run. Mr B is going to attach them to the wall tomorrow, and hopefully the chooks will take to them tomorrow.

Broody Mary was very narked about the removal of 'her' nest from the cube, but am hoping she will snap out of her broodiness as a result.

[stehaggan]

put my new rollaways in last night and took out the nest box from the cube eeeek I bet there is eggs all over the place! I am going to check on them after work but I am slightly worried lol

 

I put the tiniest bit of hay in it to encourage them so we shall see :-S

 

EEEEK

[The Dogmother]

Let us know Ste.... anyone got any photos of them in use?

[Barkisland]

Bingo! 4 beautiful eggs laid in one of the new chickboxes this morning.

They still need to be fixed to the wall of the run, Mr B will attend to that tomorrow, then I will take a pic & post it.

I took all nesting material and the partition out of the cube last night, put the roosting bars in balanced on bricks as suggested by Egluntyne. My broody Lt Sussex was not amused, and went positively berserk when I turfed her out this morning and shut the cube! Like Stehaggan, I was expecting to come home to find eggs (or remains of eggs) all over the floor, but nope, all laid in the right place and the boxes seem to work a treat.

[stehaggan]

My girls must be a bit stupid then lol

 

One laid in the wir and the rest laid on the new roosting bars where the nest box was lol 2 were broke and

Non in the rollaways! Do I need to make the rollaways darker do u think?

[Egluntyne]

Bingo! 4 beautiful eggs laid in one of the new chickboxes this morning.

 

Phew. That's a relief! I feel responsible, having flagged these. One of my younger hens doesn't understand, and has been laying in a shrub. but apart from that, it is going swimmingly here.

 

I have noticed that they seem to favour the yellow one.

[chuckmum6]

Regency poultry have these on their website, £24.99 with the roll away part included, seems cheap. See below....

 

This nestbox is constructed from high quality plastic, includes a roll away egg insert and perch. Perch and egg insert can be easliy taken out, making it easy to clean. Also mites will find it hard to make a home in this. Perch also lifts and clips up thus blocking off the nestbox to stop hens from sleeping in the nesting area at night. Nestbox can be placed on the floor of your hen house or mounted onto the side, holes are on the back from mounting. PLEASE NOTE THAT FIXINGS ARE NOT INCLUDED

Order Ref: 1083

 

£24.99

 

Postage is £6.95, I live close so I might go and have a look, I need more Stalosan and cod liver oil, which I get from here.

[Barkisland]

For anyone yet to purchase, they are cheapest at Regency, as recommended by chickmum6. Wish I had looked there first!

Mine are all brown, I thought they would appear darker and so more conducive to nesting.

One had already laid on the roosting bars in the old nestbox when I got down there in the morning. I shut the cube for the rest of the day, so the others couldn't go back to their usual spot for laying, and they all laid in the same chickbox, the one in the darkest corner of the run. I got there nice and early today, and shut the cube again, so hope they will all lay in the chickboxes.

I'm still wondering about making a screen or curtain to make them more secluded?

[Barkisland]

Okeydokey, so Mr B has kindly fixed the new boxes to the wall in the shadiest corner of the run:

 

 

I've rigged up a triangular Omlet shade over them, to make a little nesting box tent:

 

 

The hens have used them again today:

 

 

And Gilda has been outed as the egg eater! When she tried to peck the egg, it rolled away into the box, but not before she managed to puncture the shell. I've thought for a while it was her ...

 

[Jools]

I was going to suggest leaving a pot egg or two where you want them to lay, but that won't work will it!

[counturchickens]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I have been asking about these. Eglantine, how did you get on with getting the girls to use the new nest box?

[Egluntyne]

Fine. They use them with no problem now. A few weeks of shutting off access to the cube during the day and they got the message.