The BEST thing for lining the nest box - according to the chickens
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- What do you put inside your nest box? And why?
There are lots of options but what you choose will depend on your motivation as well as what's available and affordable for you.
Ideal for you will be something that provides a soft landing for the egg and is removable so it's easy to clean or replace when it gets dirty.
But if you want to really please your hens, you should line their nest boxes with something that can be molded by their feet into a bowl-shaped nest, and has loose bits that she can peck at, pick up and rearrange.
For details about other aspects of nest box design that will please your hens, this is the video:
• 10 top tips for nest b...
And that video that tell you all about why hens lay their eggs WIDE END FIRST (yes they really do), is here: • Hens lay eggs blunt en...
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Животные
Hello, I see by your sun dress that it is the middle of summer where you are and I am inside with the heat cranked up and outside the rain pouring down in buckets. I use the artificial turf, as you do, and then top dress it with a product called Nature’s Best Chopped Straw that I buy at the local feed store. I also sprinkle it with Diatomaceous earth. We had an Americana chicken named Crow-Cuss who would go in the nest box and scratch out all this straw to the floor of the coop and then put it all back in the exact position she thought it should be…she would be in there for hours content to “make it her own”. We have inexpensive video cameras in the coop and have watched her do this many times - it was fascinating and even comical…chickens provide great entertainment that is so much cheaper than going to the movies!!! Til next time, Diane in Oregon with Daisy, Mahogany, Reba and Lucy (all Rhode Island Reds).
Yes it's summer here in New Zealand and we get glorious weather here in the Bay of Plenty. Which is great for my garden but I had to move my baby chicks out of the shed because it was too hot there so they are camping in the shade, at two weeks old.
Your Crow-cuss sounds like a real personality! Chickens certainly are entertaining.
Best wishes to Daisy, Mahogany, Reba and Lucy, and of course you too - stay cosy 🙂
Cusco, Peru here.
We use wood shavings and dried ichu, a perennial grass from the highlands. We add charcoal, wood ash, DE, flowers and herbs to the nesting boxes. All these goes on top of thick rubber just in case we get a broken egg.
The ladies like it... And the curtains are cute 😂.
Hello there in Cusco. I had not heard of ichu but it sounds great. And if the ladies love it, then that's what's important eh? 🙂
@@chickensinmygarden We also use it for our adobe blocks and adobe plaster... It is not hollow. Helps also un the coop floor and composts well.
Me encanta Cusco!
How far are you from
Machupicchu?
@@faltio69 The fastest way from our place is 45 minutes to the Ollantaytambo train station and then almost 2 hours by train to Aguas Calientes.
Hi sand has worked well in my grandma's house with hens
Very timely video. Last year, I used the excelsior nesting pads. The chickens loved them for all the reasons you covered. Unfortunately, one of my hens no longer lays eggs with shells and frequently leaves a wet mess. I've experimented with a rubber bathmath, but the chickens managed to displace it with their scratchings. I switched to pine shavings but the hens will unvaringly clear a hole and leave the eggs to drop on the hard plastic floor--but I'll try again with another mat or maybe a silicone pad. Your chart showed that aspen doesn't seen to be a problem, so I'll also keep an eye out for that! Thanks for making your videos. :)
I was very tempted to mention aspen because all the available information indicates that it should be excellent, but it's not available here.
Your poor chicken with shell-less eggs. I had one like that and I always felt so sorry for her - she kept on doing her best but as you say she just laid a mess. Do you know why she does it? Is there any chance of recovery, perhaps after a period without laying? I think it's heartwarming that you care for her as well as your other hens although she makes extra work for you.
@@chickensinmygarden Thank you. I wish I knew. She's just 2 yrs old next month and lost most of her feathers last summer. There wasn't a sign of mites or lice. I thought, at first, that it was the rooster's fault, but she lost all of her fluff on her bottom and under her wings. No obvious sign of worms and my local vet doesn't see chickens. They've all just finished their moult and her feathers grew back, but now she's lost them on a portion of her back and under one wing. All of them had a break from egg laying for about 6 weeks and 2 out of 4 hens have started again with nearly daily "offerings", plus one membrane-only egg. We've bonded over all this time and are in it for the long haul. :)
I use the artificial turf only in the nest box and they seem to be happy with that. Clean and easy to change out when needed!
I have been pondering changing my material up lately. My hens lay where ever they like. They didn’t love our rollaway boxes so we changed them to flat boxes and they still lay whereever. Everything is muddy, wet, and gross right now with the weather. So I have to throughly wash the eggs and search all over the coop for them. I think I will try what you do and also do some curtains. Thank you for sharing.
Watching from mid USA and I have to say your sundress has me looking forward to summer. We have 8 inches of snow and its a winter wonderland. Super beautiful and fun but oh to be chicken season again!!! I can’t wait to do my chicken chores in the warmth again.
I do find that life is often easier for me if I understand the needs and motivations of my chickens. But still, I wantthem to lay the eggs where I can find them. I had one hen who didn't like laying where the other hens did - she's mentioned in this video as being the odd one out
ruclips.net/video/VPfOyvQdpzk/видео.htmlsi=VqJXQmwsMeUULS_L
I actually found it easier to give her a portable nest box in the place she had chosen.
I know hens will lay in rollaway nest boxes but it doesn't surprise me that they don't much like them. If you haven't seen my older video about nest boxes generally do check this out
ruclips.net/video/F1M0bCu5Uo8/видео.html
Winter should be a good time to change their laying habits and encourage them into a cosy nest box.
Best wishes for a lovely day. The shortest day (for you) has passed and Spring will be on its way 🙂
Another great video! Thank you! I use straw in my coop and in the laying boxes. I like to use straw in the coop (on the floor) and in the boxes because I can take the dirty straw, put it in a pile to compost for a while, then use in my gardens. Nothing gets wasted. I haven't privetized the laying boxes very well, but you've given me some ideas about how to do that. Also, for what to put in the bottom of the boxes. Thanks! You're the best!
Having chickens sure reduces waste in all kinds of ways!
My lazy way of composting is to accumulate a few months' worth then pour it all into the bottom of a garden bed that's empty and pile the soil on top. It composts itself 😀
That's a great idea! Another thing I do with straw that makes it my top choice for my chicken coop and mulch for my garden is this. I throw sheaves of straw out in the chicken pen. The chickens love to scratch it up and eat all the seeds. After a few days, I rake it up and use it as mulch in the garden beds. Most people don't like to use straw in their gardens because of sprouting grass, but having the chickens "clean" the seeds out serves two purposes; gives the chickens a rewarding activity, and gives me a seedless mulch! I love chickens; they are so helpful!@@chickensinmygarden
That's so clever! I love systems that are multipurpose! And yes chickens are often great contributors to multipurpose and sustainable systems 🙂
Thanks so much. Your videos are so informative and have so many great ideas. Awesome production values too 😃
Thank you so much 🙂
Very helpful - thanks.
Great to hear! Thanks for saying so 😊
Thank you! Very informative. 🙂
Thank you. I appreciate that 🙂
Interesting! Thank you
Thank you. And thanks for watching 🙂
Have often wondered whats a good choice for lining but hadnt thought about which factors to prioritise. Appreciate you sharing your thought process on how to choose a lining. Happy new year from Aus!
Happy New Year to you and your chickens! I hope the weather is treating you kindly 🙂
I love the silicone mats, but the hens prefer straw. But the straw had bugs, not the good kind😢
Yes, that's a disadvantage of straw. But when you use silicone mats, are the bugs just hiding somewhere else?
Good point, that's a possibility. I haven't had any so far but I try really hard to keep it clean. I guess I could treat the straw before putting it in but it's an extra hassle. Maybe there's no winning this war🤪
Red mites are the chicken keeper's nightmare! You might have seen my video about the lengths I went to to keep them out of my new hen house
ruclips.net/video/DIbBHP2EXKE/видео.htmlsi=26kLYxHbaoqDIID-
So far no mites, but then it's only 3 years I've had chickens on this property. On our previous property I had chickens for 15 years and it was a never-ending battle.
What breed is the beautiful grey/silver hen @5:58 ?
She's an Araucana, or at least what passes as such in New Zealand - I don't think they would pass the US Standard. They lay blue-shelled eggs. They come in various colours but this Lavender is quite a common one.
She features in several of my earlier videos, for example this one, when she was already an old hen
ruclips.net/video/Zr0ujRPwNeQ/видео.htmlsi=4DEHdI_HeXx9ybM-
And the fun Short song version of that
ruclips.net/user/shortsB5csNbFTPT8?si=MCGeciJg9KCEWRrY
And this one, that I made when she died peacefully of old age
ruclips.net/video/pPUvDRfT71M/видео.htmlsi=0sujQtFlmViEI74L
The for the video : ) When you use a material that gives you mits , do you belive "wooddust" is fare bader for the chickens? After al, the chickens in natur "Asia" dont have the mits problem , do they? And grass of plastic that can be broken up also turns in to microplastic butt i belive you know that : ) I hope you and the little ones are having a nice spring : )
Wild birds certainly do have mites. Perhaps that's why most of them make a new nest every year.
@@chickensinmygarden Easy easy there : ) Arent you an expert on chickens in the wild AND "at home"? Here in the land I live, the law says that the environment of the chicken you have "at home" have to be as natural to the environment the chicken have in natur. I belive you know this to : ) There are NO natural chicken i natur that has "mitsproblems" are there? No, not realy , butt in humans chickencoops there are a LOT of does problems and there are more then 1 type of mites and so why is mits a problem in humanmade chickcoops ? The mits nightmare are: Living in a dry environment. Do you agree?
Great video ♥️♥️♥️🙏🙏🥰🥰🥰 have a great day my friend ♥️🎉😍🙌‼️🐔🩷🫶🏼🫶🏼♥️♥️♥️💕💕
Thank you so much.
You too (and of course your chickens) 🙂
I use sawdust and pine needles in my nest boxes. Or dried grass clippings after a mowing .
What are pine needles like? Are they soft?
@@chickensinmygarden yes and smell like pine. A bit like short soft straw only thinner. We have pine trees
That sounds lovely 🙂
Hello there!
Very good video.
I use dustless wood shavings for my nest boxes and for inside the coop and their loft (a box that catches their droppings)
And I it to make chicken compost later.
Hi there, and thank you. That sounds lovely - I'm sure your chickens are very happy 🙂
Was that a clip of Gonzo? So beautiful. I have straw nesting box square pads and herbs in my boxes. My hens in the big coop have really been struggling to lay lately. Between molting, injury, and a few with some type of respiratory issue and less daylight it is way down. The other flock in the smaller coop lays regularly. Enjoy your sunny weather. Great video!
Yes that was Gonzo. She demonstrated beautifully what I wanted. And now my nest box has that curtain it's harder to get good footage. But that's a small price to pay for happy hens.
I'm impressed that any of yours are still laying in the middle of winter.
@@chickensinmygarden So lovely. I would know that pretty hen anywhere. I stared at her for a minute. haha. I have considered putting up a curtain on each of my nesting boxes. Not sure how to make it work yet but I think they would love that. Have you seen those heavy duty plastic boxes with no back that you mount on the wall? They have an opening in front but not sure what to adhere to the plastic to make it work yet. Maybe some velcro so I can wash the curtains. Previous years they laid like normal all winter. The last three months or so laying has been really inconsistent for one reason or another. Maybe they will get a good rest this winter and come out blazing in the spring. That hen at the end of your video is so entertaining. :)
You spent lots of time looking at her with a brush in your hand 🙂
I have tried various "curtains" but not had a lot of success until now. They do peck at them, plus of course any fabric gets dirty very quickly. I have been surprised how well the feed bag has lasted.
@@chickensinmygarden Great points about the curtains. I think I will avoid them. I love the feed bag idea. It is durable and dust wipes off easily. One of my coops I could use it on because it has the sqaure wooden box type but these bumbly shaped plastic ones confuse me. Your idea makes me wonder if I could use sqaures of old shower curtain. The joy of chickening. They sure keep us thinking. :)
Anything old and disposable is a winner in my book. Sometimes I think I must be a rubbish collector - anything gets looked at with a chicken-keeper's eye before it makes it to the trash. My husband often asks "Do you want this?" before he throws something in the trash 😀
Hi there… off topic.. but why is your grandpa feeder elevated on a table?
Ah! I have a video about that! 😀
ruclips.net/video/43jfP0sXDpc/видео.html
I use shavings in my nest boxes but I have to change it daily as the chickens also sleep in the nest boxes.
I also use shavings under the roost bars as it helps to reduce ‘stuff’ getting stuck to the hen house floor. Not all my chickens sleep in the nest boxes, as I do have piles of ‘stuff’ under the roost bars.
Have you any suggestions that will encourage my hens to sleep in the roost bars rather than in the nest boxes?
Hi there. Lots of people have that problem, and I agree it's much better for your chickens to sleep on their roost instead of the nest box.
I hope this video will help
ruclips.net/video/VA1cDyrV4b0/видео.html
Remember you can persuade your chickens to change their minds if you are offering something they like and you are persistent enough.
Best wishes 🙂
I use sand and zeolite under the roost . And a kitty litter scoop a few times a week to clean up.
Try blocking the entrance to the nesting boxes at night. It worked for us. Also, treat the roost for mites. If it is infested, they won't roost there.
Why do chickens not have the feather colors of budgies, rainbows, and parrots?
That's a question!
This link explains how those very colourful feather colours are made
academy.allaboutbirds.org/how-birds-make-colorful-feathers/#:~:text=Carotenoids%20are%20produced%20by%20plants,of%20the%20male%20Blackburnian%20Warbler.
The blue colours are particularly interesting because they are not blue at all, it's a trick of the eye.
Perhaps chickens do look more colourful to each other than to us - did you know chickens can see ultraviolet light?
ruclips.net/video/ayEdjMYAZ60/видео.htmlsi=H5359cIjh5f6NdEe
There is more about feathers here
academy.allaboutbirds.org/features/all-about-feathers/#what-is-unique-to-birds.php
Thanks for asking such an interesting question 🙂