rescued hens

[superfurryanimal 91]

hi all taken in some rescue hens that were looking a bit worse for wear, they laid for a couple of days and then nothing, they are looking a lot better now having free range on the back end of our garden where there's load of grass etc,etc only thing is they shit in all the nest boxes, will this stop them laying and is there anything i could do stop this ? a.t.b sfa

[Simoman 110]

I have taken on rescued hens a few times, some took uptp a month to lay regularly BUT many developed tumours......

[skycat 6,174]

I've had the same problem with ex layers: crap in the nest boxes: I put several wooden boxes on their sides in the shed on the ground, filled with straw and they usually choose one to lay in. The problem with ex layers is that they have never learned to perch properly, so they tend to sleep in the nest boxes and crap in them at night. Not a lot you can do to alter these habits except get rid of them and buy in poults which you can teach to perch: lift them on to the perches at night. I tried that with ex layers but only 2 out of 6 ever stayed on the perches, and they had to be really low to the ground or they'd freak out and fall off This is what happens when you get institutionalised birds which have never learned to live like proper chickens in small flocks where they can learn to perch when young.

[martnmagik 68]

I've had the same problem with ex layers: crap in the nest boxes: I put several wooden boxes on their sides in the shed on the ground, filled with straw and they usually choose one to lay in. The problem with ex layers is that they have never learned to perch properly, so they tend to sleep in the nest boxes and crap in them at night. Not a lot you can do to alter these habits except get rid of them and buy in poults which you can teach to perch: lift them on to the perches at night. I tried that with ex layers but only 2 out of 6 ever stayed on the perches, and they had to be really low to the ground or they'd freak out and fall off This is what happens when you get institutionalised birds which have never learned to live like proper chickens in small flocks where they can learn to perch when young.

ive got one that tries to perch but falls off regularly. ive found that they crap in the coop so i decided to make some wooden boxes and fill them with straw and place them in random places around the garden and most of them have decided to lay in them rather than in the coop

[gnipper 6,837]

Stick a properly raised chicken in with them to teach them how to be normal. They shit in the nest boxes because their sleeping in them so either get them roosting on perches or shut off the nest boxes at night until they start sleeping elsewhere.