Will hoey

[Dara]

Hi everyone, I have a problem keeping the straw in the shallow nest box provided in our new eglu go-up. I'm using the medicated milled straw. I've always used this kind of straw over the years keeping poultry & found it great. Every day after replenishing the nest box with a couple of handfuls of straw, they always seem to manage to empty it & it falls through the grill. Has anyone had any experience in retro fitting some type of sides for the nest box, so the bedding doesn't get flung out?

[Cat tails]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

 

I use woodchips in my nestbox of my Go Up. Some gets kicked out, but certainly not everything and I only fill it once a week.

[Dara]

Thank you for your reply. I've made many chicken coops in the past & never had this issue as the nest boxes were always built with a lip at the front so the nesting material was always contained regardless of how fussy they were. I'm sure someone somewhere has overcome this issue!.. Any suggestions are welcome.

[Cat tails]

Some have used plastic tubs that they attached to the roosting bars with tie wraps. But I don't really see the issue. They will still lay in the nest box, even when it's practically empty. And I like the wood chips as they aren't prone to harboring buggs or go mouldy.

[mullethunter]

I also use small wood chip in an Eglu Go. They kick it out all the time so there's hardly any left but it never seems to bother them.

[Dara]

Thanks for your comment, I guess I was just worried that an egg at some point could break if there was no bedding in the nest box. We've had hens in the past who've discovered broken eggs & started eating them, once that starts it's nearly impossible to break the habit & can be passed on to the other hens quickly.

[mullethunter]

I wouldn't say that couldn't happen but it never has to any of mine

[Luvachicken]

Cut up a plastic milk bottle to overlap the hole.

Pop some heavy screws at each end with nuts to keep them attached but smooth side up.

This weighs the milk carton down nicely and stops any bedding falling through.

[Stagsbrae]

Hi there,

 

I have a cube and use aubiose. I had been putting a layer of newspaper under it to cover the hole but they don't like it and end up shredding the newspaper! I've tried using a quality tabloid but makes no difference They tend to push the aubiose down the hole so they obvious prefer the nesting box bare.

[Cat tails]

With the Go Up, you don't really have a hole at the botom that the stuff disappears through. The nestbox is rather shallow and the nesting material gets kicked out easily and falls between the roosting bars.

[Eggshell]

I have aubiose in the nest box of my Go Up and, yes, the chooks do kick a fair bit out when they are settling themselves to lay. When it gets too thin I just scoop some up from underneath and put it back in; I haven't come up with any better solution.

[Dara]

I think I may have a solution.. it will involve a strip of Amtico flooring (can you tell i'm a floor fitter!), heat gun, self tapping screws. This may just work, I'll post back later if it's a success.

[Dara]

**Update** My fix worked perfectly for this problem. It involved a 3" wide strip of pvc amtico flooring. I marked where on the strip it had to be bent, then after using a heat gun for a few seconds I bent the the turns one at a time & allowed to cool. After cooling they set at the new angle & are very robust. I left bent tabs at both ends, then screwed through the tabs into the plastic sides of the eglu go-up with self tapping screws (the ones that have rubber washers & hexagonal head). It's a quick & tidy solution to prevent bedding from being kicked out of the shallow nest box. It's worked perfectly & as it's attached to the front & side of the eglu only, both trays can still slide out for cleaning etc. Hope this helps, I did take a picture for anyone interested, but I can't post directly to this forum.

[mullethunter]

Now that you've made 5 posts you will be able to post photos (via something like photobucket)

[Adams Egg]

Had a similar problem with aubiose, then used normal straw in the run, they simply picked up the longer stems and built themselves a very good nest in the Go - problem solved!