Hello, I just saw on another thread that ADozenGirlz said it would be bad if a chicken was sleeping in a nesting box. Well.. One of my girls was feeling poorly.. We thought she was going to die. Now she is almost recoved but molting. She has been sleeping in the box for a few weeks now because she couldn't get on the roost and even though she is getting better she is still doing it. What should I do about this?
i have a number of hens who sleep in the nesting boxes, never knew it was a bad sign. they've always slept there so didnt think anything more of ituntil seeing your post....
I think sleeping in the nesting box is more of a pain for the humans than the hens. They poop ALL NIGHT so its a pain in the butt to have to clean out the box every day. My little stinkers have taken to hopping off the roosting bar and walking on the poop board and scratching up the newspaper. Kind of defeats the whole purpose of putting down the paper in the first place.
I always seem to have a couple who prefer to sleep in a nest & don't see it as a problem. I envy people who's biggest worry in life is where ther hen sleeps.
Quote:Mathewschickens, sleeping in a nest box isn't a bad thing FOR the chicken. I agree with kickinchicken. We all know that hens poop quite a lot at night and poop in the place where eggs are laid is not a good thing. While there is more than one method of transmitting salmonella via eggs (ie: inside chickens), there is cause to worry that much more when fecal matter is in the nest boxes. That's why I keep the nest boxes closed off at night in my coop so the hens who would prefer to sleep in them don't have the chance to soil them.
Yep the hens find it very nice in the box, but you have enough "stuff" brought into the box on their feet. You don't need poop also. What you are looking for it an egg without mud or poop on it.
