Hens sleeping in the egg box

[Waz]

Hello
who can help solve an issue to get the hens to sleep on the perch and not in the egg box. every day i go out to find more Chicken poo in the egg box which then makes the eggs all dirty. how do i get my hens to sleep on the perch as i have tried placing them on there and they seem to just hop off.

 

[Melky]

Have to place on perch at night after go to bed at dark. They should stay when dark. Also can block nest boxes at night and open first thing in am.

 

[Waz]

Have to place on perch at night after go to bed at dark. They should stay when dark. Also can block nest boxes at night and open first thing in am.

i will try placing on perch at night when dark but they often lay before i am up in the morning so blocking wouldnlt work

 

[Ridgerunner]

Are your roosts higher than the nests? Most chickens prefer to sleep at the highest place available which means you need roosts above the nests.

Is it all of your chickens or just some of them? Sometimes certain chickens get bullied on the roosts so they look for a safer place to lay. I almost always have juveniles in the flock that I'm integrating. This happened so often that I put in a juvenile roost to give them a safe place to go that is not my nests. Having enough room on the main roosts can sometimes help.

If you have Silkies that can't fly can they even get to the roosts. Is space so crowded they can't spread their wings to fly to or from the roosts?

Those are common reasons for chickens to sleep in the nests. It would help to know why they are sleeping in the nests so you can solve that problem.

 

[sourland]

Low perch height is a frequent cause of birds roosting/pooping in the nest boxes. If your perches are at the same level as or lower than the nest boxes, definitely raise them higher or lower the nest boxes.

 

[rosemarythyme]

i will try placing on perch at night when dark but they often lay before i am up in the morning so blocking wouldnlt work

You can try blocking the nest boxes at dusk, then once it's completely dark, remove the barrier. That way they'll be able to use the nest boxes in the morning.

 

[aart]

Hello
who can help solve an issue to get the hens to sleep on the perch and not in the egg box. every day i go out to find more Chicken poo in the egg box which then makes the eggs all dirty. how do i get my hens to sleep on the perch as i have tried placing them on there and they seem to just hop off.

@Ridgerunner has asked some good questions.
Answers to those and.....
More info would help:
-your flock size(numbers, ages, genders),
-your coop(size in feet by feet with pics),
might offer clues to if there is a solvable problem.

 

[Waz]

You can try blocking the nest boxes at dusk, then once it's completely dark, remove the barrier. That way they'll be able to use the nest boxes in the morning.

i will try that

 

[Waz]

Low perch height is a frequent cause of birds roosting/pooping in the nest boxes. If your perches are at the same level as or lower than the nest boxes, definitely raise them higher or lower the nest boxes.

i will try raising my perch a little higher to see if it makes any difference...

 

[Waz]

Are your roosts higher than the nests? Most chickens prefer to sleep at the highest place available which means you need roosts above the nests.

Is it all of your chickens or just some of them? Sometimes certain chickens get bullied on the roosts so they look for a safer place to lay. I almost always have juveniles in the flock that I'm integrating. This happened so often that I put in a juvenile roost to give them a safe place to go that is not my nests. Having enough room on the main roosts can sometimes help.

If you have Silkies that can't fly can they even get to the roosts. Is space so crowded they can't spread their wings to fly to or from the roosts?

Those are common reasons for chickens to sleep in the nests. It would help to know why they are sleeping in the nests so you can solve that problem.

yes they are higher than the nest boxes but will try rasing it a bit to see if it makes any difference....
it is jst some of them. they are all the same breed and have been raised upp together so there shouldn;t be any bullying should there. my perch is for 8 birds and i have 10 on it at a squeeze so could this be a reason why they are not sleeping on it....