Nest box curtain material

[DonyaQuick]

I need to add curtains to at least a one of my wooden nest boxes pretty quickly since I have two pullets who are becoming increasingly fixated on wanting to get into very dark nooks rather than going into my mostly-open-front nest boxes. 7 hens and 5 other pullets are happy with my nest box designs so I don't think it's a design issue with the boxes outside of not being a private enough space. I have a small bit of spare cotton cloth somwhere but I think they'll just shred it and eat the fibers over time since it's not very good quality material. Haven't found references to what materials to use in a quick search. Would some kind of non-fuzzy dish towel type thing do the job without getting eaten? Or does it need to be some kind of a soft plastic to not get shredded over time?

 

[TwoCrows]

Any fabric will work, I've used all kinds and never have they messed with or tried to eat them. And mine are pretty frayed here. I do replace them occasionally when they get too ratty. However always watch your flock for a bit after adding something that could be a concern. There are 2 boxes behind these curtains...

 

[RojoMarz]

I used a tablecloth, to make my curtains.

 

[Sefirothe]

I had some sari strip scarves. I picked the stitching holding the strips together and tied them to a very cheap curtain rod.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Thanks all - and I appreciate the pictures too showing how it's all set up!

As a first attempt, I gave an old dish towel type thing a try, similar to what TwoCrows has. I just used some small screws with washers to hold it on as a temporary measure. Hasn't tempted those two pullets yet unfortunately, but it make the box maximally appealing to every other hen/pullet including ones that haven't started up laying again yet lol. I guess I'll give it time and hope the two problem pullets warm up to it.

 

[TwoCrows]

Thanks all - and I appreciate the pictures too showing how it's all set up!

As a first attempt, I gave an old dish towel type thing a try, similar to what TwoCrows has. I just used some small screws with washers to hold it on as a temporary measure. Hasn't tempted those two pullets yet unfortunately, but it make the box maximally appealing to every other hen/pullet including ones that haven't started up laying again yet lol. I guess I'll give it time and hope the two problem pullets warm up to it.

At first you may need to peel open the curtains a bit so they get used to going through the material. Leave fake eggs in there too so it looks to the hens that others have already tried out and successfully survived the new curtain box. After a couple of egg layings you can close the curtain a bit more, eventually letting them hang naturally. They will "beak" their way through the slit like it's easy peasy eventually.

 

[ShotgunDog]

I made my curtains out of some material I had laying around (cotton, I think). I attached them with velcro pieces so that I can take them down, shake them off, or even give them a quick wash & dry if they get too nasty.

 

[DonyaQuick]

At first you may need to peel open the curtains a bit so they get used to going through the material. Leave fake eggs in there too so it looks to the hens that others have already tried out and successfully survived the new curtain box. After a couple of egg layings you can close the curtain a bit more, eventually letting them hang naturally. They will "beak" their way through the slit like it's easy peasy eventually.

13 of 14 ladies are doing good with the curtains now...nevermind that there are 3 other boxes that most of them were content with before now being totally ignored. I guess I will be adding more curtains! The girls using the current one with curtains includes one of the two pullets who was looking for dark cubby holes. As for the other one of those pullets...

The pic is from yesterday but she was doing the same thing again today despite me encouraging her to go in and her sitting in there for a bit making nest noises. She just slinks out again and tucks into that weird space outside it. Since the other I-don't-wanna-go-in-a-box pullet finally went in there and laid an egg this afternoon, maybe it's just a matter of time with this other one.

I made my curtains out of some material I had laying around (cotton, I think). I attached them with velcro pieces so that I can take them down, shake them off, or even give them a quick wash & dry if they get too nasty.

View attachment 3744066

I really like this method - I'll see if I can go this direction with the velcro.

 

[TwoCrows]

13 of 14 ladies are doing good with the curtains now...nevermind that there are 3 other boxes that most of them were content with before now being totally ignored. I guess I will be adding more curtains! The girls using the current one with curtains includes one of the two pullets who was looking for dark cubby holes. As for the other one of those pullets...

The pic is from yesterday but she was doing the same thing again today despite me encouraging her to go in and her sitting in there for a bit making nest noises. She just slinks out again and tucks into that weird space outside it. Since the other I-don't-wanna-go-in-a-box pullet finally went in there and laid an egg this afternoon, maybe it's just a matter of time with this other one.


I really like this method - I'll see if I can go this direction with the velcro.

Does she normally use the boxes without curtains? If she is a lower ranking bird, she may just be nervous of being trapped inside with the curtains. She may warm up to the curtained box over time. Some birds are just shy. Have you tried putting her inside to show her it's safe? Some birds take a while.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Does she normally use the boxes without curtains?

Nope, unfortunately she has had a thing about putting eggs in weird places since she first started laying several weeks ago. First I tried adding a new, curtain-less box in an area where I was finding little pullet eggs in the shavings; the curtains were a second step.

I thought the curtains would work faster than this because she and another pullet have been escaping past me when I go in/out and they very deliberately look for any awful dark hole they can squeeze into - more than once I've had to grab their little tails just as they're about to dart into something bad. A few times they've slipped past when it was too muddy for me to keep up so I grabbed my alpha roo and launched him out the door after them (which did actually work; he's a smart boy). One of those two pullets is now laying in the curtained box and seems less inclined to running off...really hoping the other one takes a liking to the curtains soon. I've never had pullets act like this before.

Have you tried putting her inside to show her it's safe?

Multiple times since putting the curtain on - she's quite determined so far not to sit in there for more than a brief time. She makes what seems like happy noises for a bit and shuffles around inside, and then if I go to leave she slides back out. There's also a ceramic egg in there even when there aren't everyone else's eggs.