Chickens wont sleep on roost.

[emd526]

I have 9 chickens that are about 3 months old, and all 9 sleep in the SAMEnesting box. They have plenty of room & a heated coop. Just seems odd to me. ???

 

[mickey328]

Of our 6 only a couple use the roost. We don't like them sleeping in the nest boxes cuz they poo in 'em and make a mess, so we made a flap to close them off at night. The ones not on the roost tend to pile into a corner of the coop and snuggle together. Dunno why, but it doesn't seem to be doing any harm. I'm thinking we have a dominant in there who won't let the others up on the roosts, but I'm not sure. She's been really getting after some of the others so she's in a time out for a couple days. We'll see if it changes the pecking order and allows the others to use the roosts.

 

[JackE]

I have 9 chickens that are about 3 months old, and all 9 sleep in the SAMEnesting box. They have plenty of room & a heated coop. Just seems odd to me. ???

Are your roosts higher than the nest boxes? If not, that might be one reason they are sleeping in the boxes. Chickens, most of them anyway, like to roost at the highest point they can. You could also block off the boxes until they start laying eggs.
Jack

 

[jsFarmYard]

My three hens did the same thing when they were that age. The roost was low enough for them to jump on but they ignored it. I decided that they needed some encouragement so I built a short ladder to the roost. Three days later they were sleeping on the perch and have been doing so ever since.