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What to do if sleeping in nesting box?

post #1 of 6
6/8/12 at 6:59am
Thread Starter 

Hi everyone, newbie chicken owner here.  (and LOOOVING it) And thanks for this awesome website.  I just got great answers on my sex on another thread in mins!  :)   

 

My question is regarding their nesting box.  Seems I have one or two that sleep in the same box.  they were all doing so at first but then I closed it off for a couple weeks.  I opened them back up the other day and one sleeps in there and the other near her in the same small box.  I do clean out the poop every morning but they are going to start laying hopefully soon. 

 

They do have roosts higher than the boxes. I also have pushed her through a couple times but she just comes right back because I find poop in the one box.  I do have golf balls in there but that doesn't seem to bother her.

 

My questions to my fellow chicken community are: :)

 

Should I close off the boxes again?  They are about ready to lay eggs in the next few weeks. 

 

Should I not worry about it? 

 

Any advice/ Suggestions? 

 

Thanks so  much in advance!

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post #2 of 6
6/8/12 at 8:47am

I would close off the boxes again.

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Friends are the family you make for yourself.
There are no coincidences- only providences.
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post #3 of 6
6/8/12 at 3:18pm
Thread Starter 

okay will do thanks!

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post #4 of 6
6/8/12 at 3:25pm

Yep - close off the boxes.  I'm dealing with the same thing. Since I have many that are laying, I cut some plastic fencing to fit over the nest boxes - and put some screw-in hooks on the corners of the boxes.  Then each evening I put the plastic fencing over the nest boxes - placing the corners over the hooks to hold it in place - & I remove it each morning.  Hopefully just another day or two and I won't need to do that anymore.
 

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post #5 of 6
6/9/12 at 4:11am
Thread Starter 

Thanks for the info!

 I looked in the boxes last night and there were 3 of them using one box!  One was in the box completely, one was laying on top of her 1/2 in and 1/2 out and the other was doing the same on her.  I didn't have the heart to push them all out so I left them and just will close it off today. 

 

We have plenty of roosts 2 high and one low so i'm not sure why they like that ONE box so much.  :) 

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post #6 of 6
6/9/12 at 11:39am

Chickens seem to do things a certain way until one of then thinks up something different and the rest of them follow.

 

I would close the boxes until after you get an egg.

 

You can also try making the coop smaller right at sunset so they are crowded and forced to roost. I did this purely by accident. When the weather halted coop building and I had to add a roost to the very crowded brooder.  They are in the coop now and after a few nights of them fighting about spots on the roost and ending up sleeping on the floor I go sick of being greeted by poopy feathers and feet every morning. I finally rigged up a plywood barricade that forced them to roost to avoid stepping on each other. It worked.

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BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying › What to do if sleeping in nesting box?