Elderly cat breathing difficulties when purring

[Shirl]

My new girls are dirty little chooks and sleep and so poo in the nest. I've tried putting both straw and hemcore in it but both get dirty very quickly. There's no easy way to tip it up and clean it so how do others manage? I tired using a dust pan and brush but it's too big to fit in the nest.

 

Help please. I thought the Eglu was easy to clean but emptying a pooy nest isen't easy

[KeymerKim]

Hi there

 

My girls are dirty girls too and sleep in the nest box! I wear a latex glove (on one hand only) and "pooh pick" - that way you just get the poohy bits out and the bedding stays in there. I tried scooping it out with a little tub that the dried mealworms came in, but that is too much trouble - too much bedding came out with it.

 

If you are careful, you can remove the latex glove without too much trouble and re-use it. Alternatively, use a pair of washing up gloves.

 

Hope this helps

 

Love

KeymerKim

xx

[Shirl]

Rubber gloves don't sound appealing Maybe Omlet should consider a removeable nest? Anyone have any better ideas?

[Tweety]

I use a small garden trowel to pick out the poos. Don't fancy doing it by hand, even with gloves on! What a wimp!

[Shirl]

Glad I'm not the only one

[Geoid]

You could line it with a old newspaper, then pick out the whole thing

[Shirl]

I think I'll try that. Not syre how easy it'll be to do but it's worth a go.

 

Thanks

[Milly]

I use a small trowel to flip the chunks into the roosting area (so they fall through the bars into the tray). Then empty the tray out every few days.

 

But I wish the nesting box was removable so it was easier to clean. Everything else removes for easy cleaning apart from that. It has been getting dirty because they have been going in with muddy feet.

 

Milly

[Shirl]

Mine is filling up with straw infront of the tray next to the nest because there's a gap. It's a mark 1 so I don't know if the mark 2 is improved. As it permanently sited it's not easy to clean there. Looks like it's a great place to harbour germs and mites.

[Egluntyne]

I use an old tablespoon. Does the job nicely.

[Cheshire Chooks]

We use the Times to cover floor of nest box and then put in shredded confidential waste as nest material at one end. 2 chooks sleep at other end and poo a lot. In one motion(pun unintended), scoop up newspaper with poo and nest. Piece of cake.

For roosting area, s"Ooops, word censored!"e poo off bars with trowel, into trays. Pick lumps off hemcore in trays in to bucket daily. Times, shreddings and poo dumped via bucket in to compost bin. 10 minutes, no sweat. Wash hands!!!!

Proper clean out twice a week.

 

Sounds like we have been doing it for years but its nearly 3 weeks!!!!!

[foreveryoung]

Rubber gloves don't sound appealing Maybe Omlet should consider a removeable nest? Anyone have any better ideas?

ture its not but its a great way to get out/up what you need to and nothing else1

 

I also use them to pick up after the dog!

[Christian]

Shirl, try putting a football/flowerpot in the nest late in the day, so when they go to bed, they can't sleep in the nest. When you lock them up, take the item out!

 

It works for me, when i remember

[Laura & CTB]

I put mostly aubiose in the nest then just a topping of straw. Then I use a double sheet of kitchen paper to pick out the top layer of straw and the poo comes with it leaving the aubiose underneath

[arowland17]

This is probably a stupid question and is probably answered in the eglu insrtuctions which I've not read properly and have filed away for safe keeping, but why is there a hole in the bottom of the nest box?? I put hemcore in it and a little shredded paper ontop but the girls fidget around so much in it when they lay that almost all of the hemcore falls out through the whole onto the floor under the eglu and they enjoy chucking all the shredded paper out the nest so most days I find the eggs laid on the bare plastic by the time they've finished!!

Is there any function to the whole? or could I stuff a bit of newspaper in it before putting hemcore into the nest to block it off??

[Tweety]

Could it be for ventilation?

[Laura & CTB]

I always assumed it was for ventilation too!

 

How about popping a stone over it??

[arowland17]

that's a good idea, I'll have a route around the garden for one the right size if it stops raining as the hemcore i put in it yesterday is slowly falling through onto the ground below....

[Cinnamon]

I am not sure if it is a ventilation hole or not, but its dead handy when you give the nest a good soapy wet scrub out, as the water all drains away.

It would be a nightmare to get properly clean & dry otherwise

 

Has the cube got the hole too?????

[Shirl]

Football in the nest sounds the best idea so far. As they aren't laying yet I guess I could keep it there all the time for a couple of weeks. Lots of great suggestions everyone. Thanks.

[craftyhunnypie]

Perhaps we could make our own removable nest boxes by finding a plastic bowl that fits & drilling a hole in it for ventilation? Just a thought.

I do the poo picking with my super funky orange rubber gloves ( see gallery for very fetching photo). But if really dirty, the whole lot of straw gets changed.

 

Emma.x

[sam42]

I use the scoop that can be used with cat litter trays but I also wish the nest box was removable as it would be so much easier to clean out.

[menagerie]

I use a cat litter scoop - quite good for s"Ooops, word censored!"ing poo off the bars as well.

[Dogs Too]

I use a nappy sack to poo pick, when you have a handfull of poo invert the sack over your hand and alls well! You can tell I had dogs first!!

 

In the nest box I place a small amount of straw and use wood shavings, the straw stopping the shavings disappearing down this hole (drainage? usefull when washing the Eglu with a hose). I just keep adding hand fulls of shavings to keep it comfy for the girls.

[The Dogmother]

I am not sure if it is a ventilation hole or not, but its dead handy when you give the nest a good soapy wet scrub out, as the water all drains away.

It would be a nightmare to get properly clean & dry otherwise

 

Has the cube got the hole too?????

 

The cube has a long slit in the nest box.

 

The hole in the nest is for drainage and to increase the air circulation, otherwise straw will build up with mould if left for more than a couple of days; while the top layer looks dry, it will be damp underneath. You can get round this by using Hemcore or Aubiose, which keeps dry. Some people use newspaper to line the nest, then just lift the whole thing out. I use Hemcore and put a flowerpot in the nest at night.