Pullets hanging out in nesting box

[chx]

Good evening friends! I haven't been on here in a while, wow! I need to do my part in the community by answering some questions lol. I'll do that here shortly. In the meantime, I've got a small problem that I'm hoping y'all can help me with.

I have six 10 week old pullets ( so called "Americauna" i.e. not real Ameraucanas) and a 1 year old Barred Rock hen. I had three hens, 2 Barred Rock and an ISA Brown, but one Rock became dinner for something (bobcat?) while free-ranging and the Brown kept attacking the young'uns so I had to dispatch her.

The pullets live with the adult, they all share the same coop (4'x12') and run (10'x12') now and the quarreling is mostly done and over with. Trouble is, the pullets sometimes like to jump up into the nesting box (4' wide, no dividers) and hang out there. Last night around sunset I decided to check on them to make sure none of them were sleeping in the nesting box and sure enough two of the pullets were in there. Now, whenever I actually catch the pullets in the box I chase them out, but I work 8 hours a day and I know they sometimes hang out in there while I'm away because I see their little feces pieces. What do you all recommend I do about this situation, or should I just let it be and hope they eventually figure out the nesting box is only for laying?

My Barred Rock lays her eggs in the box like she's always done and I even have a dummy wooden egg in there. I was hoping the pullets, always seeing at least one egg in there, they'd get the hint but noooo they're being stubborn little bird-brains about it!

Thanks!

 

[AnnPann]

Let it be. Mine did that too for a few weeks. It's annoying b/c they dig around and kick out all the nest materials and all. But they'll get over the novelty of it soon and start acting like the big girls.

 

[chx]

@AnnPann Thanks! It's good to hear they'll get over it. Yeah they like to kick all the bedding out and I was initially afraid they'd kick a real egg out which would splat on the ground and then they'd all discover how tasty eggs can be, but so far this hasn't happened.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I wish I had a non-construction solution but I'm afraid your post took me back to why Coop expansion #3 happened. I went through at least 2 years of adding chicks where to prevent them from sleeping in next boxes I had to block nest boxes at night with plywood, then get out there super early to remove it so the layers could get in them, it has a huge pain. Now my coop is 2 rooms, bigs in one, littles in another with a hardware cloth door so they can see each other.

 

[chx]

I wish I had a non-construction solution but I'm afraid your post took me back to why Coop expansion #3 happened. I went through at least 2 years of adding chicks where to prevent them from sleeping in next boxes I had to block nest boxes at night with plywood, then get out there super early to remove it so the layers could get in them, it has a huge pain. Now my coop is 2 rooms, bigs in one, littles in another with a hardware cloth door so they can see each other.

I've heard and/or read about blocking the nesting box(es) off at night but I'm more concerned with them hanging out in there during the day. At night the pullets usually all sleep on the roost bars with the adult. Tonight she (my adult) pecked a couple of them off the roost bars and one of them went in the box, so I removed her and put her on a lower roost bar.

My problem is they go in the nesting box during the day and I CAN'T close it off because my one adult hen lays anywhere from about 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM... during which time I'm away at work. She just can't seem to stick to a regular laying time like the other adults did lol.

 

[aart]

Might need to add a second nest...and more higher roosts for the newbies.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I've heard and/or read about blocking the nesting box(es) off at night but I'm more concerned with them hanging out in there during the day. At night the pullets usually all sleep on the roost bars with the adult. Tonight she (my adult) pecked a couple of them off the roost bars and one of them went in the box, so I removed her and put her on a lower roost bar.

My problem is they go in the nesting box during the day and I CAN'T close it off because my one adult hen lays anywhere from about 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM... during which time I'm away at work. She just can't seem to stick to a regular laying time like the other adults did lol.

Oh I'm sorry, I thought it was at night. Yeah that is definitely a tough one. I was also assuming you have more than 1 box. May as well do that now if not. Thankfully they're going to get older and problem will get resolved. But I know that's not helping the issue for right now unless you do just separate them for a bit where they can still feel together through wire separation. That said I'm guessing you would have kept the Brown around if you wanted to do that. Sorry I've been little to no help

 

[chx]

Oh I'm sorry, I thought it was at night. Yeah that is definitely a tough one. I was also assuming you have more than 1 box. May as well do that now if not. Thankfully they're going to get older and problem will get resolved. But I know that's not helping the issue for right now unless you do just separate them for a bit where they can still feel together through wire separation. That said I'm guessing you would have kept the Brown around if you wanted to do that. Sorry I've been little to no help

As long as this resolves with age as @AnnPann mentioned, I can deal with it until they mature in a few months.

More nesting boxes... hmm yeah, I think I'll add a divider or two and turn my one long nesting box into two or three, and maybe add a curtain on it too so the peeps can have some privacy.

 

[kbroom]

Good evening friends! I haven't been on here in a while, wow! I need to do my part in the community by answering some questions lol. I'll do that here shortly. In the meantime, I've got a small problem that I'm hoping y'all can help me with.

I have six 10 week old pullets ( so called "Americauna" i.e. not real Ameraucanas) and a 1 year old Barred Rock hen. I had three hens, 2 Barred Rock and an ISA Brown, but one Rock became dinner for something (bobcat?) while free-ranging and the Brown kept attacking the young'uns so I had to dispatch her.

The pullets live with the adult, they all share the same coop (4'x12') and run (10'x12') now and the quarreling is mostly done and over with. Trouble is, the pullets sometimes like to jump up into the nesting box (4' wide, no dividers) and hang out there. Last night around sunset I decided to check on them to make sure none of them were sleeping in the nesting box and sure enough two of the pullets were in there. Now, whenever I actually catch the pullets in the box I chase them out, but I work 8 hours a day and I know they sometimes hang out in there while I'm away because I see their little feces pieces. What do you all recommend I do about this situation, or should I just let it be and hope they eventually figure out the nesting box is only for laying?

My Barred Rock lays her eggs in the box like she's always done and I even have a dummy wooden egg in there. I was hoping the pullets, always seeing at least one egg in there, they'd get the hint but noooo they're being stubborn little bird-brains about it!

Thanks!

Well, I have enough nerve to answer this. Trouble is, I don't know anything about this. So, you can take the suggestions or not. How about putting some dividers, and screen off all but one section (for your mature Rock), then later when the girls become ladies, just open up the screens? If there's only one place left for Miss Rocky, she's not going to let the teenagers disturb her peace! Just a thought.

 

[chx]

Hey y'all! I just wanted to close this thread out and say that as the pullets matured into adults, they eventually all quit going in the nesting boxes except to do their thing and lay eggs.

I did add a divider in the nesting box so that now I have two boxes. This did nothing for the original problem but as I said above that seems to have resolved itself as the girls grew up.

Thanks again everyone!