Can I make a treadle operated nest box???

[Nonny]

I have one adult chook in the run with four 8wk olds and unfortunately, the way the pecking order is working out at the moment, the big girl has two roosts all to herself at night while the four babies sleep in the nest boxes.


I made a treadle feeder for the chooks, and that's working out really well because it means the 8wk olds can't get to the layer food, only their own, but it gave me the idea of rigging up a treadle operated door to the nest boxes so only the weight of a pullet will open the door, and until the young ones grow closer to POL they won't be able to use it for a bed.

Any ideas on whether this would work?

 

[Ole rooster]

I'm not sure what a chook is but assume it's the mother of the chicks. I was sorta having the same problem and what I did was put up another roost for the chicks and made sure the big girls adhered to my rules. After 3 nights now the 9 week olds go to their roost and mama and the rest go up on theirs. They said it couldn't be done but now I have 14 in a 5X8 coop on three roost poles. But all they do is sleep and leave me a "mess" to clean up every morning.

One thing I would never do is allow the chicks to sleep in the nest. That's why I put up another roost for them. It took me 5 nights to get them to understand what I wanted but now all is fine.

 

[Nonny]

Hehe...a Chook is my slang for chicken.

She's not the mother of the chicks, it was the chicks' coop until my other adult chicken died so the big girl had to move early into the coop with the younger ones. The chicks have always slept on the roosts in there, it's only since Penny has moved in she won't let them near the roosts at all and makes them sleep in the nest. When I blocked the nests overnight and moved them onto the lower roost away from Penny they still ended up sleeping in a pile on the floor.

I guess it'll take time, they don't yet seem to have the pecking order established because Penny is still going out of her way to peck at them every chance she gets.

 

[claudicles]

I have to constantly remind myself to write chicken, not chook, here too. Chook is Aussie for chicken. We're a weird mob you know.

I wouldn't be making any major changes. Your little ones will be on the roosts before long then they'll lose interest in sleeping in the nesting box.

 

[Nonny]

Your little ones will be on the roosts before long then they'll lose interest in sleeping in the nesting box.

I sure hope so! The thing is they were already using the indoor roosts for sleeping, for the last 4 - 5 weeks. It's just since I added the big chook that she's chased them off it and made them sleep on the floor or nest.

I hope this pecking order business gets sorted soon. I had to install another feeder and waterer today, up at my waist height so as to be accessible from the outside roost because Penny had all four chicks trapped up there while she paced the floor of the run and stopped them getting down to get food or water. I already had food and water at ground level at both ends of the run thinking she couldn't strand guard over both ends at once, but she's chasing them relentlessly until they give up and seek refuge on the outside roost.

 

[claudicles]

A lot of people won't mix babies with big girls until they are fully grown. Last time I did it i put them in a 22 weeks but I guess you are in a bit of a bind if your old girl is by herself. One thing I have heard people do is fence of an area with gaps big enough for the littlies to go through but not the old girl so they can escape from her and feed in there. It works particularly well if you are feeding them something with a coccidiostat and you don't want your laying hen to eat it.