Chickens roosting on nesting box perch

[Smileybans]

How do I get my hens to use the two roosts on the left side of the coop? There’s two 2x4x10s in the coop. One where the red line is and the other on top of the small roost above the red line. The roosts are staggered. They only use the roost up higher on the left side of the coop. My larger/ older birds do anyway. The smaller ones roost on the nesting box perch. Not in it. But on top or on the small roost in front of the nest box.

Some info: I have too many birds in this coop. I know I do. It’s an 8x10 and I have 20 birds in there. But the village is giving me crap about having my birds and I haven’t been able to move my bantam coop yet. Not until I get this one approved and they leave me alone. So for now this is what I have to work with. I do have chicks but they are too young to rehome right now. At least according to my state law. But I am going to be downsizing since many of my chicks are male and not the direction I want to take my flock.

Will adding a roost above the nest boxes help or hurt? Will it make a bigger mess (poo on the tops of the boxes)? Will supporting the lower roost on the left help them to want to use it? Or do they not want to use it because the bigger birds pick on them?

 

[21hens-incharge]

I think what is going on is your lower roost is lower than the nest box lid and the ones roosting there are part of the group that is roosting on the nest box booster bar in front. The top birds in that group are on top of the nests and the others are trying to stay with their flock.

 

[Smileybans]

I think what is going on is your lower roost is lower than the nest box lid and the ones roosting there are part of the group that is roosting on the nest box booster bar in front. The top birds in that group are on top of the nests and the others are trying to stay with their flock.

Is there a way to get them to roost elsewhere?

 

[21hens-incharge]

A steeper angle to the nest box lid may help.

 

[Smileybans]

A steeper angle to the nest box lid may help.

Alright. Thank you. I’ll try that.

 

[21hens-incharge]

When you adjust that angle make sure they cannot get to that tip top bit and hang on there. In the pic it looks like the lid ends at the4x4 which also has another board behind it making roughly 5" of space they could grip/sit on. Nope it doesn't look comfy to me but hey I am not a chicken so maybe it's awesome.

I used a 45° angle to keep mine off.

 

[aart]

This is what I did to keep them off nest structures,
close cover an hour before roost time, then open up after dark when I lock up:

 

[MarmaladeSings]

Have you considered making sure all roosts are higher than the nest box?