Different (strange?) behavior today.

[WVDoug]

Today all of my almost 15 week old BO and BA pullets and a couple of my almost 14 week old RIRs and CMs spent an unusual amount of time "upstairs" (in the coop) instead of under it or out in the run. The BAs combs and wattles are starting to develop and the BOs faces are turning red, as well as growing wattles. Could they be looking for a nesting area? I have nest boxes set up but closed off. All of them have been using the roosts on the opposite side from the nesting boxes for several weeks now.
Should I open the nesting boxes?
Also, I need to go away for about a week starting next week. Should I have someone check in on them to remove any eggs? It seems early but ?? (Food, water, and door are all automated, so no worries there).
Oh, and they all went to bed at least an hour early tonight, except for one RIR and one BA cockerel.

 

[lightchick]

No, they shouldn't be laying yet............you could try it though.

 

[WVDoug]

Any idea why they spent so much time upstairs today, and went to "bed" at least an hour early?

 

[lightchick]

I don't know........chickens have minds of their own.

 

[azygous]

You do need to open access to the nest boxes. Your little girls' hormones are kicking in, and they have an instinct to explore nesting areas. It's like "playing house". Around a month before they start to lay, they will explore the inside of their living quarters, spending a lot of time digging around in the bedding and nesting materials.

If you don't give them access to the nest boxes at this time, they may not get the idea that they're supposed to lay there.

Even though they may make a mess, this "play" is necessary to their development.

 

[WVDoug]

Thanks.
Opened the boxes today and they were all checking them out, but not going in, so far.
Have to check later.

 

[RAnst4038]

Where you at Doug? Is the IRS after you? Check the local UV index. It's been 9 & 10 here all spring. 9 is don't leave your house unless absolutely necessary and 10 is it's too dangerous to leave your house. My chickens are hiding from the sun too. With a CIA ban against major media mentioning it most try to forget we are living on a dieing planet with a evaporating ozone layer.

 

[WVDoug]

I don't understand your post.
IRS?
CIA?
The chickens have been out in the run or under the coop almost all of the time for the last 10 weeks or so. It's just the last couple of days they seem to spend most "upstairs" in the coop.
I checked today and there were some feathers in the nesting boxes and some materials moved around, so they've been checking them out.
I, on the other hand, was outside almost all day today and REALLY should have worn sunscreen and a hat. I'm more than a little red.

 

[aart]

Agrees they need to have them open before they start laying.....the bad habit of laying somewhere else can be hard to break.

You can put some fake eggs or golf balls in all the nests to give them an idea what they're for when they get ready to lay.

Just make sure they don't roost/sleep in the nests at night, another bad habit-but easier to break, or they poop them up.
If they do try and sleep in them, just take them out after dark and put them on the roost. Might have to do it a few times, or for a few weeks, before they get the message.
I would go out each night at dusk to close the pop door and prod them out of the nests, they get the idea and all I have to do is walk in and they move to avoid the prod.

 

[WVDoug]

I haven't seen them in the nests, but the evidence shows they've been checking them out.
They all sleep on the roosts.