Clean Out 4 Chicken Nest Boxes - PEP BB animal.sand.cleanbox

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must:
- post a picture of 4 dirty nesting boxes
- post a picture of you replacing the straw or clean wood chips/shavings
- post a picture of the 4 clean nest boxes
- OR a 2 minute video of you doing all of this

My nest boxes are two on either side of a large open space. The intent for the open space was potentially future nest boxes but for now its just potential. My girls took a little time to decide that perching was the way to sleep, they left plenty of manure in ALL the boxes so cleaning was needed.

I gathered all the old bedding/manure in a wheelbarrow to be added to a new compost pile. The weather was perfect today so this mini-project was a breeze.

I learned how to clean nesting boxes this morning. Chickens have some crazy laying habits lol

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must:
- post a picture of 4 dirty nesting boxes
- post a picture of you replacing the straw or clean wood chips/shavings
- post a picture of the 4 clean nest boxes

Having babies is a really messy business. These two duck nest boxes had both been used by broody ducks who hatched out ducklings in the last week.



I line my nest boxes with cut to size organic burlap coffee sacks from a local company. For the ducks, I put some mulch under the sack for extra padding. The small plastic bottle is a convenient way to sprinkle diatomaceous earth.



My ducks really like a woody bedding. This is the next morning. Yes, there is a golf ball in each to help remind the Khakis where to lay, and yes, they're sharing their house with 3 chickens - long story...



Our egg business chickens live in portable shelters that move every 2 days. The shelters and everything in them have to be made as light as possible to make it easier to move. We had an old flock that was due to be retired. One of those girls had started laying weak shelled eggs that tended to break and make a big mess. Not a fun nest box to have to clean.

View from the back with the old bedding,



I made the backs of the boxes removable, as it makes cleaning them *much* easier:



Most of the bedding has been removed, and I'm about to start scrubbing it. Yes, I know I'm not supposed to get help with BB's, but Muscovy *always* want to "help"!



I let the 3-seater dry over night, and then set it up - diatomaceous earth at the bottom, a nest box liner, another sprinkle of DE, then some bedding. The chickens like the grassy bedding and some will try to build a nest out of it.

Here it is back on the wall of the shelter: