Dirty Eggs, Messy Girls

[aart]

Can we get a picture of your set up? Where are the roosts are as oppose to the nest boxes? Roosts should be higher than the nest boxes.
Rule of thumb is 4 hens to 1 nest ... Figure out their favorite then close off the rest.

This^^^ but block all the nests.

First make sure your roosts are easily accessible, of adequate length for all your birds, and about 12" above the nests.
Block nests an hour or so before roosting time.
Open them back up after dark when you lock up or very early in the morning.
I rigged a permanent hinged cover, easy to use and it's always there if I need it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have 8 Nesting Boxes and provide good layer of straw for comfort to the girls.
My hens seems to think they are for Roosting at night and Pooping in.
They lay eggs in there then poop on the eggs.
Is there anyway to do this different?

Could you please post a photo of the nests and roosts? Are the roosts higher than the nests? Can they get to and from the roosts? How long are the roosts? What are the overall dimensions of the coop? How old are the ones sleeping in the nests compared to the others or is it all of them? What are you working with?

Chickens tend to sleep on the highest point available so your roosts need to be higher than the nests. They also need to be able to get to the nests and be able to get back down. Is your coop so crowded they can't spread their wings to fly up or down? Do you have ramps? Do you have Silkies that cannot fly? Are they sleeping in only a few of the nests? Are those the highest ones?

The highest in the pecking order get to sleep where they want. The others have to make do with what is left. Also some birds can be really brutal on the roosts. They go out of their way to attack others so the others sometimes leave the roosts to find a safer place to sleep. That is especially true when some are more mature than the others, that's why my question on ages. If you have certain birds being brutal to others on the roosts you may need to put in roost horizontally separated from the other roosts and higher than the nests to give he ones being picked on a safe place to go that is not your nests. This is a common problem when you integrate younger birds into a more mature flock. I installed a juvenile roost for this reason. It worked.

A typical minimum ratio of hens to nests is 4 to 1 for nests in the minimum size range, usually 12" x 12". Larger nests can handle more hens, my 16" x 16" have no trouble handling five hens each. I don't know what your nests look like but four nests should be plenty for 16 hens. Even then they will probably mostly use one or two. I'd keep a minimum of four open. If they are sleeping in the higher nests those would be the first I closed if I closed any.

There is a reason they are sleeping in the nests. It's not because you have eight nests instead of four. You can commit to closing the nests every evening and being out there at the crack if dawn every day to open them back up as long as you have chickens or you can determine why they are sleeping in the nests and remedy that problem. That may involve some retraining once you fix the problem since they are in the habit of sleeping in your nests.

 

[MRWORNOUT]

This^^^ but block all the nests.

First make sure your roosts are easily accessible, of adequate length for all your birds, and about 12" above the nests.
Block nests an hour or so before roosting time.
Open them back up after dark when you lock up or very early in the morning.
I rigged a permanent hinged cover, easy to use and it's always there if I need it.

Like the pictures. Sure is great ideas from all of you and I thank you for that.
I will take a before and after picture of how I rig mine up based on all of your suggestions and post them for all of you to see and provide advice for any improvements I need to do.

 

[New2Chicks97]

I had one girl doing this. I just kept plucking her out of there and putting her on a roost. She got the hint eventually.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Just a thought...you don’t need to do much to block them off use what you have handy. A bucket, some boards, a ball of old wire, or just a piece of chicken wire that you can fit over it...that’s what I did. I’d just take the wire out and put it to the side until night time.
Nothing permanent & easy to handle. Best wishes