Adult hen pooping in nest box

[pclark17]

I know this is a relatively minor issue but I have an 8-9 month old GLW hen who is healthy, laying regularly, accepted by the other three hens in our crew, but who insists on trying to sleep in the nest boxes at night while making a poopy mess in there. I started going out every night for about two weeks and moving her to the roosting bar after they had all gone in, I have since blocked off access to the nest boxes at night making sure she is on the roost bars with the others for two more weeks and then removing the blockade in the morning, and as soon as I removed the blockade the other night and tried to allow her to fall in with the others, I wake up to find a night worth of poo in the preferred nest box for all hens, I just don't know what to do. I have a six foot long roost bar from one side of the coop to the other that is more than enough room for all four hens, I have added an additional bar mounted on the back wall in case any of them want their own space, both roost bars are located at least 12-18" above the nest boxes and yet she still after a month immediately goes back to the nest boxes the first chance she gets at night. I have watched all of them go in at days end, there is no pecking, no fighting for preferred position, plenty of space and everyone seems happy. She just absolutely refuses to sleep on a roosting bar if she has another option (such as the nest boxes) available to her. Can anyone offer a reason and/or solution to this issue? She is not bullied by the other hens at any point within the coop/run or while out ranging in the yard. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Redhead Rae]

You might have to block access to the nest boxes every night before they bed down. I plan on having drop doors on my nest boxes for my next coop.

 

[aart]

Could take months to change her habit.
Nest cover:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ting-in-the-coop.1208806/page-3#post-19269971

 

[lazy gardener]

I have one SLW who continues to sleep in the nest box. Not all the time, but often enough that I MUST check on her location every single night. She has earned a spot at the top of my short cull list. When designing nest boxes, it's a good idea to design them so they can easily be blocked off. Aart blocks hers from above with a flip down cover. I block mine from below with a flip up perch. Some folks put a milk jug in the nest box at night.

 

[RollTideChicken]

In my experience it doesn't take long to break habits chickens develope. Just do as others here have said for a week or so and I'd wager they stop.

 

[lazy gardener]

In my experience it doesn't take long to break habits chickens develope. Just do as others here have said for a week or so and I'd wager they stop.

That is generally the case, but this gal is 8 months old, and is still being a snot nose about sleeping in the nest box.

 

[Redhead Rae]

That is generally the case, but this gal is 8 months old, and is still being a snot nose about sleeping in the nest box.

My buffs were like that. I had milk crate nest boxes in their mobile coop and they insisted on sleeping in them. I changed out to external plastic tote boxes and fixed it so they couldnt' get into the milk crate boxes because I was tired of cleaning poop out of the nest boxes.

 

[song of joy]

When I have hens that do this, it seems that they learn to use the roost bar much faster when I block off access to the next boxes prior to roost time, as this forces them to seek the roost bar and select the roost bar on their own. When I allow them to initially seek and select the nest box, and then move them to the roost bar after dark, they just don't seem to change their behavior. I think when I move them, they're still so used to homing in on the nest box at roost time that they continue to do so.

In other words, there are multiple behaviors I'm trying to "reprogram" including: 1) the pre-roosting seeking of a roost location; 2) the selection of a roost location; and 3) the settling down on the final roost location for the night. When I was moving the hen from the nest box to the roost after dark, I was only addressing the latter behavior, so the hen was very slow to change (or didn't change) the first two behaviors.

The "re-programming" may take a couple of months, but you may have weather on your side. I think they're more likely to roost together during the winter to keep warm, so this may work to your advantage.

But then . . . there's always the stubborn one who cannot be broken. They usually go to the top of the cull list due to the ongoing annoyance, and soiled nest boxes are a huge annoyance.

 

[lazy gardener]