Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: dancing trousers on April 04, 2012, 20:40
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Sookie Hen has decided the nest box is where she likes to sleep. Which means when I stagger out bleary eyed to open the Eglu and let them out, I also have to gird my loins and immediately clean the nest box of all the poo and put in fresh shavings because Mrs Peckles will want to be in there to lay her egg tout suite! Should I try to dissuade Sookie from roosting there and if so how? Thanks as ever for all the advice.
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Could you block the nest box off at night before they retire and unblock it first thing in the morning? Mine started sleeping in the nest box and after a few nights of this they soon got the message about where to sleep. ::)
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Thanks Ice, I'll cut a bit of cardboard to size and block the nest off. Feel a bit bad because she looks so cosy and snug, but I cannot be doing with early morning cleaning out!
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Well you can't blame her. Would you rather cling to a perch all night or snuggle in a nest box? As she is the only one doing this I doubt there is red mite affecting her choice of sleeping quarters but it's worth checking.
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Won't be red mite I shouldn't think, only had them and the eglu three weeks! I think you're right, it's just more comfy in the nest!
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plus the fact in eglus the perches are the same level as the nest area so no clearly defined roosting and laying sections. Make sure though you pooh pick the nest box before she goes in (they can get infections in their eyes if they get any pooh in them) and again first thing in the morning.
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I'm doing all the poo removal from the nest box daily before Mrs P settles in for laying but wanted to deter Sookie from roosting there so I don't have to do it forever! Good advice from all and I'll be blocking off the nest tonight.
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My hens love roosting in their egg boxes during the winter and soon learned to move the metal grid I placed as a barrier so now I put in a couple of sheets of newspaper every evening and remove them the following morning and dump them into the compost heap.
Jane
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All of my chooks sleep in the nesting box ??? I have tried to dissuade them to no avail so I just let them get on with it. I use hemp bedding so it is very easy to clean out of a morning - they are happy so I am happy :)
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After reading this I blocked off her nest box and she had a night on the Omlet roosting bars. Next mornng - poo all over the bars!
Sawdust easy to poo pick from so back to nesting box - or - saw off the pooey roosting bar so next time it falls through...? Anyone done this?
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One problem with them sleeping in the nestbox is that they poo all night. The ammonia in their poo can burn their skin.
Can't imagine how poo can accumulate on a roosting bar. :wacko:
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The roosting bars in an eglu are like a grid of bars close together rather than just one bar so poo may not always fall through. I think I'm answering my own question here......
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The roosting bars in an eglu are like a grid of bars close together rather than just one bar so poo may not always fall through. I think I'm answering my own question here......
Aaaaah, so Eglus are good but not perfect. :)
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and I now have another problem which is having put a plastic plant pot in the nest to deter roosting, on the second night poor little Sookie laid her first egg (pre 6.30am) on the roosting bar because she couldn't get in the nest. Poor chook, not a great start and the egg was cracked. I think I'll leave the nest free tonight just in case Sookie is a very early morning layer. I can live with cleaning the nest first thing every morning just worried about poo sitting in it overnight especially if Sookie is in their early doors to lay.
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We're back in the nesting box at night until a better solution comes along. A daily poo pick is no effort really....
I don't have an eglu- just the eglu roosting bars. No way of knowing until tried out really.