8wk old pullets roosting in nesting boxes

[littlebiddy]

Hello!

I am a new chicken owner this year and have 6 approximately 8 wk old hens. They are completely feathered out and have been living in their coop for a couple of weeks. They seem to be doing very well and a re growing quickly, but there is one question I have for the group. My coop has a nesting box area that sticks off the side as many do, with dividers so that there are 3 nests. The main portion of the coop has 2 perches. My girls are not roosting on the perches. Instead they (all 6 of them) cram themselves into the nesting boxes. Sometimes all in the same box. Are they cold? It is getting down into the 60s at night around here -- but I am seeing them cramming into the nesting boxes when they first go inside in the evening, before it has really cooled off.

Assuming they are not cold, should I not worry about it, or is this some kind of bad habitual behavior that will affect their use of the laying boxes when they are mature enough to lay?

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[LarryPQ]

chicks like to dog pile--even if they are hot and panting.

They'll grow out of it. Just make sure the roost is higher than the nesting boxes, and you'll fine. Eventually they will want to be big chickens.

 

[chicknerd]

Quote:
My 6-9 week old chicks all huddle together in a corner of the coop because I dont have the nest boxes in the coop. It has been down in the 40s at night and they all do fine. They seem to love to huddle. Every night I go out (now that they are finally inside at nite!) they are all bustling for position in the huddle.

 

[littlebiddy]

Thanks, I feel better. They really do pile up in layers and have little heads and tail sticking out at odd angles. I'll just enjoy it.

 

[LarryPQ]

Pretty soon they will roost & REALLY hate it if you wake them up. Talk about the stink eye.

I had 6 CM chicks (2 were roos) who slept in the nesting box until they were 5 months. If you don't know: Cuckoo Marans (especially the roos) are enourmous birds. I never figured out how all 6 of them jammed in there.