fighting over nesting boxes...

[bathsheba8542]

Hi everyone from the (new) land of snow and ice! About 3 weeks ago, I cleaned out the nest boxes in our coop. Although there are 6, with 11 hens, there's never been a problem before, although they honestly only use about 4 of the nest boxes. Now, since I've cleaned them out of old bedding, feathers, and put in new shavings, with some DE (which was there before), they're fighting over one or two. Each box got the same treatment. Any thoughts on why they won't use the others?

 

[Over Easy in Adna]

All I can think of is "Because they are chickens", hopefully someone else has a much better answer!

 

[easttxchick]

For the same reason my hens all lay in 2 out of 10-they act like those seagulls in Finding Nemo-"mine, mine, mine"...
It does make for easy gathering of eggs, though, you sure don't have to look very hard.

 

[lauralou]

I have no idea why they just started that now. Mine always fight over "the good box". Which is identical to all of the other boxes...

 

[parmesan]

mine do it too.
After I fought my rooster off of me the other day he went and hid in the nesting box they all fight over (there are 3 for 4 ckns). I don't know how long he stayed in there. The next morning all the eggs were in the box on the opposite end-for the first time. this morning it was back to normal except for the bully of the group-she opted for the one on the end again. Could it be because they saw the rooster in there? Who knows!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Same with mine. I sometimes find three hens in one nest box all crammed in laying eggs.

It's just a normal chicken thing to do I think. Has your weather been cooler? Mine do that more often when its cooler outside and ALL the time in the winter. Think they like the heat.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Yep! Yep! I've seen one hen grabbed another and throw her out of a nestbox.

 

[ConchRepublic]

Mine do the same thing with our 3 boxes. They even went to the point of flinging the milk carton that it the main part straight out of the box they site in! now they're all fighting over the empty space where it used to be.

 

[MowNGrow]

My girls did it once, so I removed the dividers

, now they have one long shelf if you will with hay on it. I often find the eggs all together in the middle with the hay all nicley sorted in a nest circle. Thats my cure for fighting and I don't have to go hunt for eggs

 

[fordmommy]

Quote:
Yep!