I have 26 pullets, they are 18 weeks old. We found our first egg today, NOT in the nesting box BUT on the coop floor. I have a BIG problem, ever since chicks THEY slept in corner together and STILL do, even with roosts. WHAT DO I DO? How do I get them to stop piling up in the corners?
First let me say and from S. Florida! Glad you joined us! I really don't know what to tell you about your "pile of chickens"! Someone should have some kind of answer for you.
Hi! from Australia! Out chicks had exactly the same problem when we started putting them out in the coop overnight from their brooder... Is the coop perhaps too cold? They could be huddling together for warmth. Or else it's just that they don't know what the roosts are for: we picked each one up and put it on the roost at night: they'd be too scared to jump down so would sleep up there. Did this until they got used to it Congrats on the egg! It's such fun looking for the eggs when they don't lay in the nesting boxes... Hope to see you more around the forum
and from Michigan! whiteflare's right. When it starts getting dark, head out to the coop and toss a few girls up on the roost. The others will follow. Also, make sure the roost is wide enough to be comfortable. Mine use the wide side of a 2x3.
from California Are your roosts maybe too high? I haven't shown any of my birds in the grow out pen how to roost, but even the 8 week olds are doing fine. Low roost though.
As for getting the eggs laid in the nest, have you tried putting a ceramic egg in each laying nest? From what I can tell, young pullets don't understand what is happening to them the first time they lay - but if they see those ceramic eggs in the nest, they will then lay subsequent eggs in the nest because obviously if another chicken put an egg there, it must be a good place to put their eggs.This seems to have worked with our pullets - one egg outside the nest in the run, all others inside the nest.
