Chickens keep sleeping in nesting box

[Goatsrcool]

Hello, We had gotten new Pullets a bit ago to mix in with our already laying chickens. We noticed on the first night that the 7 new chickens were all crowded into one single nesting box to sleep in. We have 6 nesting boxes in total but now the new chickens use 2 of them to sleep in. We’ve added new roosts for them all to fit comfortably yet they still prefer to sleep in the boxes. We’re concerned on when they are going to roost as we are going to need all 6 boxes for the 17 chickens to lay their eggs in. One of our new chickens started laying in on stop of our hay in the barn too. We don’t want her ruining the hay for our goats so is there a way to get her to lay in the nesting boxes? She keeps trying to escape the chicken area to fly into her nest in the barn. Thank you.

 

[Sortacountrychicken]

I find that my hens stick to the nest boxes better if there are some fake eggs or golf balls in the nests. I actually only have one for ball for every 3 nests or so but that seems to be enough. Is your coop big enough to lock them in for a couple days? A few days of being forced to lay in the coop usually convinces them to stick to the nest boxes.

 

[K0k0shka]

How old are your pullets? Young chickens like to cuddle together on the floor or in a protected space (like the nesting box) to sleep. It takes them a while to get the urge to roost. You can help them along by blocking the nesting boxes in the late afternoon (after all hens are done laying for the day) and unblocking them again after dark, when all chickens are roosted for the night, so the boxes are open for them in the morning for any early morning layers. With the boxes inaccessible, the pullets may reconsider roosting. If they still pile up somewhere else, you can either let them be (they'll roost eventually), or you can help them along by placing them on the roost yourself. When everybody is roosting properly for the night, you can stop the nest blocking exercise.

As for the hen that escapes, it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with the nesting boxes. Maybe she found a nicer place to nest and just wants to go there now. Try blocking her access to the hay area by fencing the chicken area better (separate it out completely with chicken wire if possible).

 

[aart]

You can help them along by blocking the nesting boxes in the late afternoon (after all hens are done laying for the day) and unblocking them again after dark, when all chickens are roosted for the night, so the boxes are open for them in the morning for any early morning layers.

Ditto Dat!