Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: van connick on December 10, 2007, 05:37

Title: nest boxes
Post by: van connick on December 10, 2007, 05:37

can anyone tell me please...is it better to have nest boxes off the ground?

i have some beautiful hens here, all hatched myself, and they are now starting to lay. but they are all laying from the perches and not in the nest boxes. smashed eggs to begin with, now i have put extra bedding underneath the perches, so i can at least have good eggs...lol

the girls are in a shed 6X8 and are not going out at the minute, i have the nests on the floor, should i raise them slightly? and to what height.

i have had hens before, but have never had this prob.

Title: nest boxes
Post by: mercury on December 10, 2007, 11:05

Hello vc, yes i would move the nest boxes higher, you don't say how high your perches are, but keep the nest boxes lower than the perches, if not, they may start roosting in the boxes, if it dos'nt work, get back to us :)

Title: nest boxes
Post by: Bodger on December 10, 2007, 11:35

I'd consider actually taking the perches out for a while, until they at least get out of the habit of dropping bombs from them :D

Title: nest boxes
Post by: Aunt Sally on December 10, 2007, 12:39

Quote from: "Bodger"

I'd consider actually taking the perches out for a while, until they at least get out of the habit of dropping bombs from them :D

As long as they don't get in the habit of sleeping in the nest boxes  :roll:

Raise the nest boxes and make them comfy and secluded ie. sides and roof and put a couple of golf balls [pingpong balls or artificial eggs] in them to show the hens that that's the place to put their eggs.

Title: Cosy nest boxes
Post by: Emsdad on December 10, 2007, 13:58

The nest boxes in my Black Rocks' bespoke residence are at floor level, and to my amazement, they started laying in them straight away - no golf balls needed!

The thing is though, when we built the hen house, we divided the nest box into 2 (it was originally 36" wide, so I thought that 2 x 18" wide boxes would be more suitable.) However, they have never bothered laying in the left-hand box, they just take turns in the right-hand one. And now, I've discovered that 2 of them keep going into the same box to lay at the same time! Not much room, but very cosy!  :lol:  

I suppose it helps keep them warm in this weather......

Title: nest boxes
Post by: van connick on December 10, 2007, 16:13

hiya
the perches are actually 3 feet high .....plus they use the top of a pallet partition to roost aswell.
nest boxes are 12" square and there are two side by side. they both have roofs on them.
i am going to try putting a couple of the eggs they have laid in the nest boxes, see what happens, and i will raise them aswell.....

i will keep you posted...lol...