Closing off nesting boxes

[atomic_chicken]

Just brought home 2 month old australorp X and noticed they all crowded into a nesting box at night for obvious reasons( scared , new coop , warmth)
I decided today to close off the nesting boxes to encourage them to roost at night and not let them get in the habit of sleeping in the nesting boxes.
If they prefer to be together at night there are lots of corners and shavings where
they will be comfortable. I am wondering what age they will be before they decide to roost and should i care if they are in the nesting boxes?

 

[Judy]

I would do what you did. They can get in the habit of sleeping in nest boxes, resulting eventually in poopy eggs. Mine have always gone to the roost on their own, by point of lay or sooner. You can always place them there later if you need to, after they are used to their new home.

 

[atomic_chicken]

Thanks Judy, Thank you My hens are a little .....lets say, shy....so if i handle them they get a little squaky. I will try to handle them everyday so they become tamer but in the meantime
am I adding too much stress to their lives by catching them and placing them where i want them to be ie. coop or roost?

Also when do I open boxes back up???? when I find eggs???

 

[Nicole01]

Ours like to sleep in a pile as well. What we did was make the roost into shelf. I have one 10 inch and one 12 inch wide roost. They all pile up in the corner where the two roosts meet. The nice thing about the 12 inch roost is we have the food underneath and they don't poop in the feeder.