2 month old chicks sleeping in nests

[yesfantina]

Our 2 month old chicken (2 red stars, 3 bantams) have recently moved outside to our pre-fab coop (from cconly)..
We like the coop, but yes, we're already talking about next year building a 'real' coop, but I think (hope) this will be great for a year..

Anyway, this is their 3rd night ourside in the coop and they're sleeping in the nests! We had a roost bar set up in the brooder and they all slept there, but tonight (and last night too) when i looked in the coop, 4 of them were snuggled into one nest and the 5th was in another.. Arent't they supposed to be sleeping on the roosts? They wont' be laying for awhile, but I understand that we dont' want them soiling the nest areas. Any thoughts? Here's the brooder they were in til recently (at 4 weeks old..)

Here's the coop

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

Thats a really nice coop.

I would take out the nest boxes untill they are 20 wks old.

 

[TwoCrows]

Gorgeous coop! But babies tend to do that when they first go out to the coop. Mine tried to sleep in the nesting boxes also. Since they won't be nesting for some time yet, block off the nesting areas for a week or so. That will break their habit of wanting to sleep there. It takes them a while to use roosting bars, however you can quicken up the pace by going out at dark and placing them on the bars so they get the hint.

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

Thats a really nice coop.

I would take out the nest boxes untill they are 20 wks old.

 

[gale65]

We blocked off our nesting boxes, as well as the little ledge in front of them.

 

[WendyGrama]

Are they maybe a bit cold, change in temp from their broody home? That may be why they are choosing to bunch up too? And maybe overwhelmed by the space, I agree with blocking off the nesting boxes for now and maybe put a lowered roost in to start.

 

[Othercat]

I recently removed the nesting boxes from our coop because they took up so much space (8 nesters for 7 chicks! lol). For lack of anything better to do with them, I put the boxes in their yard outside. Now whenever I go to close the coop at night, I find all 7 chicks in one box with the rooster perching on the lip.

 

[SIMPleChick]

Well, I moved my girls into the coop with 3 nest boxes and the youngest slept in the nest boxes for a month or so until they felt big enough to sleep on the roosts. I didn't help them or push them, they will move up on their own, I think if they still feel like they want to or need to sleep like a chick at night, then no problem. No one sleeps in the boxes anymore and they are getting ready to lay and the older hens are starting to root around in the boxes! YAY!!! So don't worry, it's up to you with what you want to do but me personally, I wouldn't worry about it.