Chickens trying to roost in one nest box

[markinohio]

This is our first year raising chickens and we started with twelve hens. We built a nice size coop with two roost sticks up high and a ten place nest box (five on top- five on bottom). The problem is that at night about six chickens try to squeeze into one nest box. Some are in forward and some backward. It doesn't appear to cause any injuries. There are nine other boxes available, but they all try to fit in the same one. We're not sure if this is normal behavior or if we should try to correct it. Some of the chickens do use the roost sticks. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[gamebirdsonly]

I would block off the nest at night that might help them to roost in right place.

 

[my sunwolf]

Welcome to BYC!!

This is normal, especially when they are young. Some people block the nest boxes until the chickens are closer to laying age. If they are at laying age, some will close the nest boxes at night. The biggest problems that sleeping in the nest box causes are 1. piling up (suffocating each other, especially if it's cold) 2. poop in the nest boxes (which leads to dirty eggs and bad habits for the hens). Also make sure that the roosting poles are higher than the boxes as chickens like to roost up high. Good luck!