Choo-chook Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 With now having 5 bantam girls and an average of 3 eggs a day I'm getting mighty fed up with all the hooha over who's in the nesting box and the noise from the girls lining up. So, I've got a classic up on a table so was thinking on either a plastic hooded cat litter tray or a cat carrier to sit under the table. The carriers seem to be well ventilated but I didn't know if all the holes would make it too light for them. Any ideas? If I go for the litter tray will I have to make sure it has a low 'pop hole' ? Argos have a carrier for £12 and a litter tray for £17. I'm terrible at making up my mind about anything these days, please help so I can get my girls to stop squawking their heads off and I can get a bit of my life back again...next stage was a pros and cons list with graphs!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 You can buy free standing nest boxes, some with roll away egg attachments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Ooo Patricia, I need one of those. I had a wooden rabbit hutch, but got rid of it when my girls got red mite. Osprey ltd make one. It's £26.49 from the Wynnstay website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Ordered one. My girls sleep in the nesting area of my Eglu Go, so when I get the eggs they're always covered in poo. This should solve the problem. When I had the rabbit hutch they always laid in there, never a s"Ooops, word censored!" of poo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandmashazzie Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Sadly I don't have your problem,I have 6 nest boxes on my wooden coop and now am down to 6 chickens,but when I had 10 they seemed to take turns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 (edited) I got a spare nest box thing from Flyte so Fancy but it only stops the squawking to a certain extent. I still find everyone wants to use the same spot however many there are There's a poem called "The Egg Queue" by Carole Chapple which says it in one. It starts off . . . "Aily yelling in the garden What's that all about? "I wanna lay my egg right now, But Netty won't get out. "She's in my favourite nest box, Even tho' there's two, And tho' the other one is empty, Only the special one will do. "I need to get this egg out, And it's got to be RIGHT THERE, I'm stood here with my legs crossed, But Netty doesn't care! Netty dawdles down the ramp, And Aily dives inside Settles in her favourite box, To lay her egg with pride. Marcie yelling in the garden, What's THAT all about? I wanna lay my egg right now, But Aily won't get out!" Edited to give you all of it. I love it and find it really funny Edited January 30, 2014 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choo-chook Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Ohh, so funny, that's my Agnes to a tee, away to see if I can find the whole thing. Thanks for that, after a horrendous morning at work I needed a chortle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinsk Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 love it! and so, so true. In our big run there are 5 nest boxes between 12 hens and only two ever get used, not always the same two Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I've added the rest of it for you all. It's my lot to a T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisyhettieamber Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 I'm suffering the same problem with my omlet cube ... I only have 3 hens now but the two black rocks are big girls and refuse to share the nest box so chaos ensues ... I'm actually going to try and convert a plastic tool storage box into two nest boxes (one either end) with an entrance hole in the middle of the front panel ... The lift up lid will hopefully help with cleaning and egg collection ... They cost £30 from Argos so I can replace the children's garden toy storage and "Ooops, word censored!"ody will notice ... Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimi5 Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Ah Daisyhettieamber, I have suffered the same problem Various others have tried different other things....so let us know if this one works Oh we need pics of your invention Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 We have 4 Wyandottes with 4 nest boxes. Sometimes they lay in different boxes but usually if one is in a particular box the next hen perhaps sees it as the best and wants to lay there as well. If the hen outside is higher in the pecking order she will turf the sitting one out. Then the noise starts made worse by the cock alarm calls. This then sets all the other flocks off and the noise is deafening. Fortunately we have no close neighbours. I have tried grabbing the hen outside and putting her in another nest box. Works after a few attempts but its a lot of walking and the effect doesn't last that long either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
