Chickens sleeping in nesting boxes

[susannalynnwilds]

Hi all,

The Autumn season is upon us here in Oregon and with that, egg production has slowed. We have four young hens that we raised as chicks back in February of this year, and all but one has stopped laying. Since production has stopped, my hens have now decided that their favorite place to sleep are their nesting boxes. I know that this is not okay, but am unsure as to why they are doing it and how to stop it?? This has never been a problem before! I could try blocking off their boxes as night, but that would mean having to get up extra early each morning to unblock the entrance.

As always, any advice is much appreciated!

 

[My Bagurks]

Could it be a temperature/ trying to keep warm thing? Is the coop too drafty for them? What are your roosting bars like?

 

[susannalynnwilds]

Could it be a temperature/ trying to keep warm thing? Is the coop too drafty for them? What are your roosting bars like?

We have two roosting bars, one lower, one higher. One is made from a tree branch that is circular and the other is made from wood.. it is rectangular. They've never had a problem roosting. All but one like to roost. Right now the temps drop to the mid to low 40s at night. We have two very small triangular windows covered in hardwire mesh at the very top of the coop on either side that we leave open at night for ventilation. We also just cleaned out their coop and put in all fresh bedding a couple of weeks ago.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd block off the nests at evening, then you can go back and unblock them later in the evening once it's dark (instead of waiting until morning). Do that for a while (few weeks, couple months) and then try leaving them unblocked and see if that breaks the habit.

 

[susannalynnwilds]

I'd block off the nests at evening, then you can go back and unblock them later in the evening once it's dark (instead of waiting until morning). Do that for a while (few weeks, couple months) and then try leaving them unblocked and see if that breaks the habit.

Awesome idea! Thank you! I'm also wondering why they started doing this at all?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hard to say. Could be they feel too crowded on the roosts (though 2 roosts for 4 birds should be plenty), could be a draft on the roost now that weather is getting cooler. Have you checked the roosts for mites?

I have a young hen that wants to sleep in the nests after watching a special needs bird do it for months (I allowed the special needs bird to sleep wherever she wanted, since she couldn't roost). After that older hen passed away, the younger one started wanting to sleep in that same nest, no idea why.