Craftmatic adjustable nesting boxes

In an attempt to further reduce the possibility of egg breakage in the nesting boxes, we Jake invested in a bunch of fancy plastic inserts that feature soft bristles, which are supposed to better cushion the eggs as they fall from the hens’ egg makers.

New nesting box inserts; a delightful Martha Stewart shade of blue.

To be honest, I don’t think we really needed these things since our old inserts — squares of smooth, sturdy plastic covered with a bedding of straw — worked well enough, but try telling that to my husband, who never met a piece of FarmTek equipment he didn’t buy.

Old nesting box inserts

Which ones work best? Last night I noticed three broken eggs in one of the boxes. Had this happened on the black plastic, I would have simply rinsed it off, dried it and covered the insert with a fresh layer of straw. But because it happened on one of the new mats, the egg yolk got all stuck in the tiny bristles, making it impossible to clean without a toothbrush. It was a giant pain in the butt and I was already in a bad mood because my back was freaking killing me due to Baby Chuckie laying waste to my lumbar spine.

The verdict: Newer isn’t necessarily better. Gimme the old pads back. (And ye gads, can I have this freakin’ baby already?)