2 sleeping in nesting box to avoid other hens

[Lokale90]

2 of my girls (heckle & jeckle) are a couple months younger than the others they just joined in the coop. Some of the older ones are such bullies. I always put h & j in the coop first, they go on one of the roosting bars & try to sit as still as possible like they’re not even there. Then one always seems to come in & literally grabs the feathers on the back of their necks & pulls them off the roost, causing a commotion & getting the attention of the others which then leads to more of them pecking at the h & j. This has led to h & j going & sleeping in a nesting box together. Things have seemed to ease up at least a little with the bullying but we are now in the habit of sleeping there. As we all know, they poop when they’re on their roost so now they’re pooping in the nesting box. They seem to always sleep in the same one but now I’m finding poop in 4 of the 5 nesting boxes in the coop. It’s starting to change the others hens laying schedule & habits & I’m not sure how to fix this. Anyone have any advice?

 

[3KillerBs]

How many chickens do you have? How big is your coop? How long are your roosting bars? Could you show us photos of your setup?

 

[WILIFORD]

2 of my girls (heckle & jeckle) are a couple months younger than the others they just joined in the coop. Some of the older ones are such bullies. I always put h & j in the coop first, they go on one of the roosting bars & try to sit as still as possible like they’re not even there. Then one always seems to come in & literally grabs the feathers on the back of their necks & pulls them off the roost, causing a commotion & getting the attention of the others which then leads to more of them pecking at the h & j. This has led to h & j going & sleeping in a nesting box together. Things have seemed to ease up at least a little with the bullying but we are now in the habit of sleeping there. As we all know, they poop when they’re on their roost so now they’re pooping in the nesting box. They seem to always sleep in the same one but now I’m finding poop in 4 of the 5 nesting boxes in the coop. It’s starting to change the others hens laying schedule & habits & I’m not sure how to fix this. Anyone have any advice?

I had that for awhile with my previous flock. I cut some cardboard panels, and would go out every evening for a couple of weeks, and cover the nest boxes with the cardboard. Then I would go out in the morning and remove the cardboard. They finally got the pecking order figure out, and the problem went away. It might work for you.

 

[Mrs. K]

You can also use a piece of cardboard to divide the roost bar. So that you can have hens on one side of the cardboard, or the other, but they can't reach the birds on the other side. Try that.

You will have to put the newbies up on the roost that you want them on the side of the cardboard that you want.

Mrs K

 

[rosemarythyme]

Knowing # of birds and total coop sq ft and roost length (and number of roosts) would all help, as would photos of the roost area.

Assuming that space is not an issue:
1. Cover the nest boxes at night so they can't get into them.
2. Put the younger birds on the roost after the older ones are settled, after dark, so it's harder for them to know who is next to them.

 

[aart]

Knowing # of birds and total coop sq ft and roost length (and number of roosts) would all help, as would photos of the roost area.

Assuming that space is not an issue:
1. Cover the nest boxes at night so they can't get into them.
2. Put the younger birds on the roost after the older ones are settled, after dark, so it's harder for them to know who is next to them.

This^^^
...also a separate roost for the newbies is always a good idea.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Knowing what you are working with makes it a lot easier to come up with ideas that might apply to your situation. That's why all these questions about your number of chickens and the layout and size of your coop. We want to help you but don't know how.

I used to have that problem, I integrate several batches of juveniles every year. I wound up putting in a juvenile roost, lower than the main roosts, horizontally separated by a few feet, and higher than the nests. That changed the juveniles from regularly sleeping in the nests to hardly ever doing that. But I don't know if it is a reasonable method for you to try. Others have had success using other methods. I don't know which might work for you.

 

[Lokale90]

I had that for awhile with my previous flock. I cut some cardboard panels, and would go out every evening for a couple of weeks, and cover the nest boxes with the cardboard. Then I would go out in the morning and remove the cardboard. They finally got the pecking order figure out, and the problem went away. It might work for you.

That’s so smart! I think I’ll try that. They seem to be adjusting somewhat by not staying in the nesting boxes every night, but I would like to get to a point where they aren’t sleeping in there at all.

Knowing # of birds and total coop sq ft and roost length (and number of roosts) would all help, as would photos of the roost area.

Assuming that space is not an issue:
1. Cover the nest boxes at night so they can't get into them.
2. Put the younger birds on the roost after the older ones are settled, after dark, so it's harder for them to know who is next to them.

I didn’t even think to do that. I’ve been putting the younger ones in first. I read somewhere that when introducing them you want to make sure the new additions are there first for territorial reasons. I’ve just been applying that logic to roosting at night as well. I’ll have to try this way. I can attach a pic in a bit when I’m back home. Right now there are 11 in the coop total. It holds up to 12 but we will be needing to expand ASAP. I have 6 more that will be integrated within the next month or so. Just not sure how to go about the expansion.

 

[Lokale90]

Knowing what you are working with makes it a lot easier to come up with ideas that might apply to your situation. That's why all these questions about your number of chickens and the layout and size of your coop. We want to help you but don't know how.

I used to have that problem, I integrate several batches of juveniles every year. I wound up putting in a juvenile roost, lower than the main roosts, horizontally separated by a few feet, and higher than the nests. That changed the juveniles from regularly sleeping in the nests to hardly ever doing that. But I don't know if it is a reasonable method for you to try. Others have had success using other methods. I don't know which might work for you.

Right now my coop holds 12 max. I have 11 & will be needing to come up with an expansion soon. I have 6 more that will be joining them within a month or so. I’ve only had chickens for about 6 months & there’s things I wish I had done differently with the coop. I don’t have room to add lower roosting bars in the meantime, I don’t think. I can send pics later. Any advice on how to either build an add on or an entirely different coop/ideas would also be much appreciated. My boyfriend & I are at odds over what to do & I don’t want to wait until we’re out of time.

 

[Lokale90]

How many chickens do you have? How big is your coop? How long are your roosting bars? Could you show us photos of your setup?

I can send a pic when I’m back at home. I have 11 in there now. I can’t remember the exact sizes. My boyfriend built it for me. I can get the dimensions from him later though.