custom chicken mattress

This is so sad. I can admit this here becuase with the exception of only a few of you, no one knows me. Thank goodness! My life has degraded tthis.

Spring cleaned the hen house top to bottom. Dusted everything including the light bulb.Took out ALL the bedding and hauled in all new. Scraped poop off the walls, swept. You know the routine.

BUt the nest boxes have plywood bottoms and despite shavings, I get a lot of broken eggs. It's cause the girls scratch all the shavings out and then klunk, the egg hits the plywood and breaks!

So, I cut chunks of fuzzy backed landscape fabric and stapled two pieces together to form a little envelope. On the one open side I stuffed in several handfuls of shavings then stapled that side shut. Slipped these little mattresses into the nesting boxes, sprinkled bedding overtop and voila...no more broken eggs. THey can scratch all they want, that little cushion is there to catch the egg.

When you custom make egg landing crash prevention pads for your chickens...seek help!

This is where my old hay goes. Useless to feed the horses, it ends up in the nesting boxes. The girls love it, and make nice round holes, and drop their eggs safely in it.

Ha Ha Ha!! Reading your post has totally made my day! I think it shows true compassion for the animals we raise! After spending so much of our time fretting and caring for them we deserve those eggs... unbroken! I have had a few crazy reno's like the one you speek of and hubby gives me this total look of "Lady you really HAVE lost your marbles". I think it's great and who knows maybe you've given someone else a good idea too!! Good for You

hey - if it works, don't knock it! Good idea and good for you

Uno, the master of the design, smiling. What a beautiful little cushion you have made for the gals, you surely will not have any smashed eggs no more. I don't like to use shavings in the boxes for that very reason. I like a deep bed of straw and they like to make deep holes in that deep bed. My boxes have the wooden bottom too, but the straw is so deep, never would they get to the bottom to the wood . You are wonderful with what you do for the birds, love to hear your stories. have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.

Sounds cool Uno. I have always thought I would like some of that longer, fake grass to put in the bottom of my nesting boxes so they cant push all the stuff out. I thought to use that self adhesive velcro to stick it in the nests but be able to take it out to clean it.

Little pillows, slightly disturbing

... now if you had been quilting for them....

Thanks Uno , you just gave me a idea because I have the same issue and haven't figured out how to approach till now