Had a several questions come in today regarding nest box material and how ofter it should be changed...
I would say that straw or wood shavings are a good choice for bedding.
With regard to changing the materials...Obviously, clean nest boxes mean cleaner eggs at egg gathering time. Nest box materials should be changed on as "as needed" basis.
I just use the pine shavings and the girls seem fine with it. They keep their nesting boxes very clean. It is easy to clean them when you need too and not expensive.
Since I don't buy straw for my horses, what I usually do is use some of the hay that I feed them for my nesting boxes. It's finer and softer than straw and the hens just love it. You see them making their little nests taking one piece here and one piece there. I have also used shavings before as well.
Jill, thanks for the suggestion regarding using fall leaves! I've been putting them straight into compost, now I'll let them take a turn in the nesting boxes before composting.
One of our chickens refused to use the box (?) Anyone else encounter this dilemma?
That would be a great topic for a new thread! This could be its own discussion. As moderator I can move threads around, but I can't relocate a single post. I don't really want to jump in and start a thread in your place yet. If you could start a new thread, I'll delete these posts. And I'll go ahead and make the new thread if you don't get to it - I think this is a good question.
Chicken Keeping - Nest Box Bedding
Posted - 06/02/2009 : 09:06:27 AM
