Getting pullets to sleep on the roosting bar?

[so lucky]

I think you need to block their access to the nest boxes till they get nearly old enough to lay, like around 16 to 18 weeks. Otherwise, they will keep messing in them.

 

[Nicole01]

I did that tonight, left them alone for a few minutes- one had jumped down so Iput her back up. She jumped off again, and so did all of the others, but one, who probably jumped down after I left. Day 1- fail.

I just read they are 9 weeks, they are still fairly young. If you don't have older hens, block the nest boxes and let them sleep on the ground. My youngest are around 12 weeks and just started jumping up on the roosts in the run. I've done this before and it does take time before they get it. My roosts are 5ft high in the coop and 2 feet high in the run. I can't block my nest boxes since I have older hens and some lay right away in the morning. I add new chicks every year, so I'm always integrating. Don't give up.. Keep at it and they will learn. I had to kick my flock of 17 outside the coop and sleep on the roosts in the run since the coop was 100F. We are having a horrid heat spell. Our run is very secure though with welded wire and hardware cloth, so nothing can get through. I wish they'd automatically sleep outside when it's this hot since its 10-20 degrees cooler outside at night. Before I go to bed, I open the door to the coop, so they can lay in the morning. Good luck! I know it's a pain, but they will learn.. Chickens are pretty awesome pets and depending on the breed(very few are skittish), they become very friendly. Mine jump on my back and shoulders every single time I clean out the coop and run.

 

[nurseronda]

I had the same problem when I tried to integrate younger birds with older ones who wouldn't play well together. I think the younger ones felt safer in the nesting box. I ended up putting a mesh across the entrance at night and would put the Reds on the roosting bar where I wanted them. It only took 2 nights. (I did end up segregating the Aldelusions from the Rhode Island Reds because they were so aggressive).

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Yeah no need to have the nesting boxes available to them at this age. I'd create a ladder or stagger roosting bars that way the chickens can hop from one to another. At 9wks old I had a roosting bar about 4ish ft high and they wouldn't fly up or jump down. I staggered roosting bars at different heights and it worked perfectly (I had the nesting box lid under the lowest bar that was about 3ft up, then the 4ft bar, and another around 5.5ft)

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

They are just doing what they know. They grew up sleeping in a pile and that feels safe to them.

Try blocking off the nests. You can put a small box inside the nest to fill it or cut a sheet of cardboard and just slip it in front of the entrances to the nests. Hard for me to say what might work best because each set up is a little different.

But typically, after several nights of this, they'll get the idea that roosting is good.

Some hens just need a little more encouragement than others. They'll get there.

 

[Fat Man]

Not all mine use the roosting bars. They all want to be on the top one and it's not big enough, so they find some where else.

 

[iwanaplae2]

Mine are only 6wks old and still huddle together in a corner of the coop.. But I have found them on their perch a few times. As for the nesting boxes, I have them blocked off so they can't even go in there. I don't want them to think sleeping in there is even an option. When mine get closer to laying age I will open them up.
Good luck

 

[Chris King]

Maybe there is something you can do with your coop design to make the nesting boxes "unfriendly" for sleeping? For example, my pullets were roosting in their nesting boxes when I first got their big-girl coop, so I did two things that encouraged them to use the roost area instead:

1. added some nonslip, adhesive tread to the gangplank up to the roost; the new wood was quite slippery and the horizontal brake-bars were too wide apart to stop their feet from slipping as they tried to walk up the gangplank. They were curious enough to try it when the coop first arrived, but they were reluctant to use it once they slipped trying to get up it. As soon as I put the nonslip tread tape on it, they thought it was Disneyland!


bottom end of the gangplank

top end

roosting bars


2. kept the egg collection hatch over the nesting area open until it was dark; I closed the hatch when I locked up the coop for the night, but not before, so the nesting area would have seemed an unsafe place to roost in comparison with the roosting bars at the other end of the coop.


egg collection hatch over the nesting boxes open, showing the garden shed beyond

I keep the hatch closed during the mornings now, as my hens are all laying and I want them to feel safe and secure in their nesting boxes when they're laying their eggs; but after I've collected the eggs, I open the hatch and leave it open until I secure the coop for the night.

Now and again, when I get lazy about opening the hatch, one of the hens will go back to roosting on/in a nesting box, but just one or two evenings of leaving the hatch open until dark and they're all back to roosting where I want them. I'm obsessive about closing up the coop as soon as all the chickens are in for the night, so there've been no problems with anything getting in through the hatch.

There is a third thing I could do with this very-open coop design: enclose the roosting area more. I'll do that as the cold weather approaches, but in this climate (NC) I want as much ventilation as I can get while the weather is warm. Even as open as it is, this coop still gets a bit stinky on a really hot day. My chickens are safe from predators once the doors are latched for the night, but with the sides of the roost area simply enclosed in chicken wire, the hens could probably feel safer.

Being safe is one thing; feeling safe is altogether another!

So, my suggestion is to do what you can to make your roosting area feel like the safest place on earth.

Have fun,

-Chris King-

 

[Urchin]

Mine mostly roost where they're supposed to. I have a few who sleep in the nest boxes, but since my flock's starting to lay and one lays in the morning, I can't cover them at night. I have a little storage bin in the coop to keep my bag of feed handy and the same two chickens always sleep on top of it. Of course the silkies and young bantam cochins all sleep on the floor right under the roost. I've had to rig a roof over them so they don't get pooped on. The bantam cochins are three months old now and probably should be roosting, but I don't push the issue with them. They're still pretty small in comparison to my twenty-one-week old pullets and a lot of pushing, shoving and pecking happens on the roosts as everyone tries to get the prime spots at the top.

 

[naadarien]

That is funny. I have the reverse problem

and was wondering how I'd get them in the nesting boxes. They don't seem to want to go near the nesting boxes. They love the roost and even the rafters of the coop, but not the boxes.

Mine were about 9 weeks old when we put them in the coop. They are 17 weeks now. We have 24 pullets: 5 PBRs and 19 Golden Comets.