Chickens sleeping in nesting boxes?

[ChickCrazyWorryWort]

So I have 2- 1 year old chickens and 2- 11 week old chickens and they are sleeping in the nesting boxes for the first part of the night. At some point 1 of the older girls and 1 of the younger girls will end up on the roosting bar, but the others stay in the boxes. Is this a bad thing? If so, why and what should I do? By the way I have a small camera inside my coop which is how I got this picture and how I know the 2 will move from the nesting boxes to the roosting bars.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Is the roost higher than the nesting boxes? If the roost isn’t higher, than they will sleep in the nesting boxes.

 

[ChickCrazyWorryWort]

Is the roost higher than the nesting boxes? If the roost isn’t higher, than they will sleep in the nesting boxes.

They are like 2” higher than the nesting boxes. There is a little lip in front of the nesting boxes. This is just a small simple coop that was purchased from tsc.

 

[CluckerFamily]

They are like 2” higher than the nesting boxes. There is a little lip in front of the nesting boxes. This is just a small simple coop that was purchased from tsc.

I wasn’t sure if you could see the roost in your picture or not. Since the roost is higher than the nesting boxes, how long is the roost? Another cause could be that there isn’t enough room for them all.

 

[William Mellor15]

I have a Barnevelder that does the same thing.... I think its cuz she gets bullied (Even tho she's the biggest chicken in the whole flock!)

 

[William Mellor15]

It could be a mite problem, they get bullied up on the roost or they just enjoy sleeping in the nesting boxes

 

[ChickCrazyWorryWort]

I wasn’t sure if you could see the roost in your picture or not. Since the roost is higher than the nesting boxes, how long is the roost? Another cause could be that there isn’t enough room for them all.

I’m not exactly sure how long it is but there are 2 of them and they go to the other end on each side of the door. I kinda just thought 2 would fit on one and the other 2 on the other.

 

[ChickCrazyWorryWort]

It could be a mite problem, they get bullied up on the roost or they just enjoy sleeping in the nesting boxes

I hope it’s not mites I have a dust for them in their run and they make their own throughout the run. I sprinkle Diatomaceous red lake earth with calcium bentonite around the coop and run. I also do complete health checks on them at least ones a week, which includes checking for mites and lice. I haven’t seen anything yet. If they get bullied on the roost why do they all start in the nesting boxes? I have read other place that I could put wood or something in front of the nesting boxes at night so they are pretty much forced to roost. I really don’t want to do that though if they just enjoy sleeping in the nesting boxes and if it’s really isn’t hurting anything.

 

[Justso]

In the past I've had to teach some of my chicks how to roost. It's easy just to stay on the ground in a cozy nesting box. The problem is they'll stay in there and poop, making a mess of your eggs.
Every night after dark go out there and take them out of the nesting box and put them up on the roost, repeat until they stay. Make sure your roosting bars are as high as possible.If you have crowded conditions, consider making your house bigger.

 

[MadamContrary]

I'm pretty sure I have that same coop, the roosting area is pretty small. I blocked off the nest boxes for now because mine are only 9 weeks old in that coop. I also installed a roost running parallel to the boxes up higher and added hardware cloth where the plastic window in the little door was originally. I still think it needs more ventilation though. My thoughts on no sleeping in the nest boxes is just keeps them clean. You could make a cardboard partition at night until they start using the roost.