Eglu Cube Coop For Sale

[Shelley]

I've had my three girls for more than a year now, but over the last couple of months they've increasingly been laying - and breaking - eggs in the coop rather than the nesting box (not sure if I've got those labels right, but you know what I mean). Did their weekly clean out this morning and there were four broken eggs lying in the trays. Any thoughts on why and how I might discourage them?

[Redwing]

Red mite can make chooks not use nestboxes so maybe check for them first

 

A change of nestbox bedding would be worth a try

 

Leaving a couple of eggs or golf balls in the nest box sometimes gives them a nudge

 

The other option is that they are laying them in the nestbox then pecking at them then dragging them in to the main coop to eat.

[majuka]

Are the eggs finished, ie not softies in any way? The only time I find eggs in the coop rather than the nest box is if they are not quite finished, almost as if the girl wasn't expecting their arrival. If they are finished eggs, my only other thought would be that they don't want to go into the nest box for some reason, such as red mite, but, I would have thought that it would be too cold for pesky red mite right now?

[Shelley]

The shells on some of the broken ones do appear to be quite thin - so perhaps it is an accidental act. But I will change the bedding as well. Can red mite infest cubes? i thought that was one their key advantages over wooden structures

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Yes, they can - the benefit of the plastic house is that red mite is easier to eradicate (I think wooden houses often have to be s"Ooops, word censored!"ped ).

[Redwing]

They are just as likely to get red mite yes