Were you raised in a barn?

Have you ever been asked, "Were you raised in a barn?"  Growing up, that is something that I got asked if:

1. My bed was left unmade,
2. I left my dirty clothes scattered around the room,
3. I left the door open and it was letting the air conditioning out,
4. Or I left my mess for others to clean up.

If any of those events happened, I would inevitably get asked the question, "Were you raised in a barn?"  It is a rhetorical question not to be answered as the answer should be a resounding NO!  Instead it is supposed to be a teachable moment or a "memory aid" to help you remember that you weren't raised in a barn and should clean up after yourself.

I asked this question just last night to our laying hens who have been laying things other than eggs in their nesting boxes. I give to you Exhibit A, our laying hens:


Were you raised in a barn?

Actually, they weren't raised in a barn.  They were first raised in a brooder and then in a chicken tractor.  Nine hens and one rooster out of our flock of 90 or so chickens somehow decided that the barn was a better place to roost for the night than the chicken tractor.  I can't really say that I blame them.  The barn is a more comfortable setting than the chicken tractor.  It is out in the wind and rain.  These girls are high and dry, warm and cozy.  It has a lot to do with this rooster shown below, I would imagine.  He protects them.  He roosts on a 2 X 4 along with one or several of his hens.  The problem with this is that they poop at night.  Their poop falls right into the nesting boxes where the hens lay their eggs.  Not good.  This causes us to have to continually add clean straw.  I like work, but not senseless, unnecessary work.  

My spot to bed down for the night.

I thought the simple solution was to just move the 2 X 4 away from being right on top of the nesting boxes.  It worked about as good as a screen door in a submarine would work.  Almost to spite me for shaking things up, the hens simply started roosting on top of the nesting boxes as you can see in the top photo.  This increased the amount of poop in the nesting boxes.  The chickens that didn't roost on top of the nesting boxes started roosting (and pooping) on top of the hay bales, so I had to cover the hay with a blue tarp to keep them from ruining the cows' hay.  I made matters worse it appears.


The infamous blue tarp

Here is a close up shot of what they do to the nesting box.  Not a pretty sight.  The egg in there is one of the fake nest eggs.  You can see that even though there is fresh hay added, the hens have already "fowled" it up.  Pardon the pun.  Things have to change.  We don't want to go over the Fecal Cliff.


The hens' best in dirtying the nest

Last night, I authorized Operation Scoop Poop & Move to the Coop, a shock and awe campaign in which I scooped up the perpetrators and forcibly moved them out to the chicken tractor.  It took 30 minutes.  Only the Rooster remained.  The real test will come this evening when we head out to milk around 7 pm.  We'll check in and see if the hens have returned or if they will roost in the chicken tractor.  

Where's my harem?

We just got back from milking.  Wouldn't you know we were greeted by 9 hens all settled in and ready for bed IN THE BARN.  They were all right back where they were last night.  Sigh.  I'm not gonna give up that easy, though.  This weekend I'll put the "barn roosting hens" in the chicken tractor and close the door on them.  I'll leave them in there for a few days or a week until they break the habit of roosting in the barn and instead get them into a habit of spending the night in the chicken tractor.  I want their poop falling in the pasture and fertilizing the grass - not falling in the nesting boxes.