The Deep Litter Method??

[Mortblanc]

Eggs will lay in the poo!!!

Never ceases to amaze me...

Where do you think eggs come from?

The chickens will lay in the nest boxes you provide if you line the nest box with straw. All of my hens share a nest box and I never remember needing to go one an "egg hunt" since they began laying.

"Back in the day" hen houses were built as minimal shelter with dirt floors. They were cleaned out once a year when the garden was plowed.

All these purposeful ideas are the invention of hobby farmers with nothing to do but play with a chicken. I do not know a single chicken raiser that cleans a coop once a week, or one with more than two or three chickens that uses one of those cute little "Mother Earth News" type tractors.