Hen Fan Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Hi Our two hens Rosie and Daisy always seem to sleep in the nestbox of our eglu and as a consequence there is always poo in the nestbox. Does anyone have any bright ideas to stop this happening? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mum Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Some may suggest putting a brick or football into the nestbox to prevent hens from roosting there. Personally, I think they will still perch on the nestbox edge and you just end up with pooh on the brick/football My philosophy is: if they are comfortable, why fuss? But then my philosophy stems from my abhorrence of battery farming and enforced discomfort Others may disagree, but, simply put, skimming off the poohs from a nestbox on a daily basis really isn't back breaking/time consuming and I don't mind doing it if my girls are happy, content, comfortable. No different from cleaning off their poohs from my shoes, the path, the tops of the Eglus, their ladders, etc.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pearls007 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) We put a football in the nest box each day after our two (Rosie and Hendrix) have laid their eggs. We take it out when we open the pop hole first thing in the morning. They do not poo on the football - if the football is there they both roost on the bars - if it isn't, Hendrix (as the boss!) claims the nest box and leaves Rosie without someone to snuggle up with! We think popping in a football is far easier than poo scooping - and it also means that the eggs are always clean when you collect them. Edited January 8, 2012 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackian Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Some may suggest putting a brick or football into the nestbox to prevent hens from roosting there. Personally, I think they will still perch on the nestbox edge and you just end up with pooh on the brick/football My philosophy is: if they are comfortable, why fuss? But then my philosophy stems from my abhorrence of battery farming and enforced discomfort Others may disagree, but, simply put, skimming off the poohs from a nestbox on a daily basis really isn't back breaking/time consuming and I don't mind doing it if my girls are happy, content, comfortable. No different from cleaning off their poohs from my shoes, the path, the tops of the Eglus, their ladders, etc.. I agree , my girls after 8 months still sleep in the nesting box . Each morning when they come out and I greet them with "Good morning girls" i have a scoop which I just check if there are eggs or not and scoop out any poo , they are then ready for the day...NOt a problem . Any thing that makes them content . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clucker1 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Our Headgirl , Darthveda uses the nesting box as her boudoire...you have to have some priviliges when you are top girl! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Fan Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 I'm loving all the names of the hens. Darthvader and Hendrix: Brilliant!! I think the football idea is really good and will give it a try. I don't mind mucking out the poo from the nestbox but it sometimes gets on the eggs which isn't so appealing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mum Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Totally get the "pooh on eggs is not appealing" look But, lets get back to basics: hens pooh, hens eat their own pooh, eggs may (may not!) have pooh on them. Supermarket eggs are sprayed/washed to make them more appealling to the eye The real problem occurs when a) people contaminate their eggs with poor husbandry; by that I mean they do not understand some simply habits. When an egg is produced, it has a slightly sticky coating to it. Have you noticed that? It is a bit like vernix on a newborn baby. It is a "gloss". To clean an egg with a touch of pooh on it, means to wipe it (if it is fresh). If it is a bit "stuck on", then you need to wipe the egg with a solution of water which is slightly warmer than the egg. (Kitchen towel will suffice). If you crack an egg with pooh stuck to it, the "art" is to not let the raw egg come in contact with the pooh'd shell - that is what will spread ecoli and salmanella. Fresh pooh is easily wiped off; stuck pooh is easily washed off Over time (aka recent history!) we have become very detached from the "normal" cycle of life, most especially with livestock! Amazing we have lived so many thousand years really If your stomach cannot cope/understand that some eggs have pooh attached, you may want to rethink, not how *you* think, but how brainwashed to nature marketing has made us all Eggs without the occasional pooh is very much babies without sex (but that is purely my personal opinion!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hetty and Hilda Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I have been having the same problem, I tried the football in the nest area but kept forgetting to take it out, I have now come to the concultion that the only reason I wanted this situation resolved was because I thought it look unsightly, but my girls were not bothered by it one bit, and the removel of the poop each day was not really a hard ship so i have left it as it was. I think I was fussing over nothing and giving myself more issues than needed. I clean my elgu once a week anyway and the poop removed daily what was I fussing over?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I'm afraid I just let them get on with it and scoop it out when I give them a bit of a clean. Maybe I'm just a tad too slovenly these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
