Chickens think the nest box is a bed... What do I do???

[shadow rabbit10]

So, my chicks are 3 months old now, and just got their new coop. However, rather than sleeping on the roost, they all huddle inside 1 nest box and sleep in it! Yes, all 9 of them! How do I know? because it is filled with poop and I see them sleep there at night. Is this a problem? I know they won't be laying for a while, and once they reach full size,I know they wont fit in there. (At least not all of them) Should I stop this? How?

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Let them be, those chickies are genius. Many yougins dont roost, and its better for them to sleep in a nextbox then under the roost they'll figure out soon enough

 

[shadow rabbit10]

I hope so! I just don't understand why they all have to use the same one, when I have 4 available.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Also, they are fine with roosting during the day, just not at night.

 

[Tmaxson01]

I had that same problem with my first chickens, all 5 would cram into the nesting box. When they were old enough to start laying I didn't want my box all messy so I went out every night when I would close them up and moved each one of them to the roost. After a week of doing this they started roosting instead of sleeping in the box. The next batch I had I built a new coop and didn't put the nesting boxes in until after they started roosting on their own and then a couple weeks after that they started laying in the boxes. Good luck.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Also, they are fine with roosting during the day, just not at night.

Ours spend half the day in the coop

 

[7L Farm]

Make sure your roost is higher up than the nest boxs. I'd go in after dark & move them. If you have a night light be sure & turn it off.

 

[amcgovn]

I had this problem so I did two things. The first is that I swapped out the wooden dowel with a 2x4 for the perch....
For the next week or two I put some plywood over the nesting box so they could not sleep there.

As soon as I did that, they went up on the roost, and after I took away the wood from the box, they have not gone back.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

My roost is much higher than the boxes. I don't have a night light and only plan on using one in the winter. I may just block the boxes if they do not stop in time.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Well, I have good news! Two days ago, it was almost dark, and I went to get the birds out of their run and into the coop, when I noticed they were sitting on the roost I put in the run. I didnt think much of this at the moment. I went to look in the coop tonight however, and saw them all fast asleep on the roost! I guess they fiannaly caught on! Problem solved.