Poo in nests

[Mama Farley]

We added 3 hens to our flock. Since we added them, the nests have been full of poo each day. What the heck???? We have a total of 10 hens and 8 nests. Never had this problem before the new girls.... so I added new roosts. We now have 7 roosting bars (2 ladders). The poo in the nest continues. Any suggestions on what to do to stop this insanity?

 

[sourland]

Are the roosts higher than the nests ?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Do you have a camera in the coop or can you check at night to see where all the chickens are? My guess is the new girls are being bullied into sleeping in the nest boxes at night (or they never learned to roost on your roost poles in the first place). You may need to train them to roost by manually moving them onto roosts after dusk and/or cover up the nest boxes at night so they can't sleep in them.

 

[LazytownChick]

I use a board to close off the nesting boxes at night and open them back up in the morning.

 

[chrissynemetz]

I'm thinking you might need to close up the nest boxes at night until the new girls are comfortable using the roosts with everybody else

 

[GC-Raptor]

When I had a hen sleeping in the nest boxes, I put gallon jugs in nests an hour before sunset. I wedged them in tightly. .
After sunset when I locked up the coop I removed the jugs. I did this for a week. She continued to use the roosts. GC

 

[Mvan42]

You could put them on the roost after they get tucked-in in the evenings. A few day to a week and they will get the hint. Blocking the nest boxes is a good idea also.

 

[harveyhorses]

How long did you take to integrate them? Are they all the same size/age? It sounds like the nests are their safe place, can you put things in the run for them to hide behind? As an option to nests. It takes a while to establish pecking order when new girls come in.

 

[Ridgerunner]

We added 3 hens to our flock. Since we added them, the nests have been full of poo each day. What the heck???? We have a total of 10 hens and 8 nests. Never had this problem before the new girls.... so I added new roosts. We now have 7 roosting bars (2 ladders). The poo in the nest continues. Any suggestions on what to do to stop this insanity?

Is this all nests or just one? Are they sleeping in them at night or is this happening during the day? How old are the three new ones, are they laying? How old are the seven old ones, are they laying? Could you post a photo showing your nests and roosts?

There is a reason the poop is showing up in the nests. To stop it we need to figure out why.