Introduction to nest box questions

[deegee68]

I know my girls are still young, but I wanted some heads up on when I should introduce them to the nest boxes. They are currently 8 weeks old and I have a piece of plywood blocking off the entry to the boxes. About what time should I remove the plywood and give them access to the nesting boxes.

Also my nesting box area is an addition off from the side, but the floor is flush with the coop floor. Pic attached. Should I add a 1x4 or something to make a barrier of separation?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I would just open them up around maybe 4 1/2 months of age...something like that.

You would need a barrier to keep in your nesting materials if you use something that falls out all the time. You might want to wait and see if you have a problem or not.

 

[olderoo]

I know my girls are still young, but I wanted some heads up on when I should introduce them to the nest boxes. They are currently 8 weeks old and I have a piece of plywood blocking off the entry to the boxes. About what time should I remove the plywood and give them access to the nesting boxes.

Also my nesting box area is an addition off from the side, but the floor is flush with the coop floor. Pic attached. Should I add a 1x4 or something to make a barrier of separation?

They wont want to start laying until 20-24 weeks.
But making the nests available to them now wont hurt anything, and they will be used to them when the momentous day arrives.

As for the barrier - yes. Making the nest more hlosed is better; the birds tend to stumble around less in cozier nests. This means fewer broken eggs and helps to reduce egg eating.
I recommend a wall placed between the coop and the nests, into which you've cut a 10" circle. Allow a 2" step-up threshold above the floor level.

In use, the birds poke their head into the nest, decide it is dim and cozy enough for them and then step into the nest. They settle in and do their thing.
Much better than them banging around a wide open box.

 

[aart]

I'd suggest 3-4" high front on nests to keep bedding and eggs in the nest.

Roost should be higher than nests to keep them from roosting(sleeping) and pooping in nests.

That's mighty tiny coop, hopefully only a couple pullets in there.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t know what the inside of that looks like but yes, some for separation is a good idea if the floor is flush with the nest. What are you using for nesting material and for bedding in the floor and how deep are they? I’d want the separation sticking up at least a couple of inches above both. You need to stop them from scratching bedding or nesting material from one side to the other. They area under the roost especially could have a lot of poop in it. You don’t want that scratched into the nests. I don’t know what size chickens you have but I’ve had full sized hens use an opening only 6” high and 8” wide to get to a nest.

The earliest I’ve had pullets start to lay was at 16 weeks so I would want the nests opened before that. Some pullets seem to have no control over their first egg, they just don’t seem to know what is going on. They might drop it anywhere. Most do have control from the start but not all. Wherever they lay that first controlled egg is where they want to lay all the others so you want the nest opened for that event. Most pullets won’t start to lay until several weeks after 16 but you just never know when it will actually be.

Another reason I like the nests opened early is that if the pullets are sleeping in them you have time to fix the problem before you start to get poopy eggs. There are many reasons they might sleep in the nests. They normally like to sleep as high as they can so your roosts need to be higher than the nests but there are still other reasons that could cause problems. Mine normally don’t start to roost until 10 to 12 weeks though some are earlier and some are older when they start roosting. They are all different. They might sleep in the nests until they start roosting.

Sometimes you have a bully on the roosts. That’s when mine are most vicious toward each other, when they are settling down to sleep on the roosts. It doesn’t happen all the time but I have had chickens leave the main roosts to find a safer place to sleep. If they are crowded on the roosts this can be worse. You may not have a problem at all, sometimes I don’t when I’m integrating young chickens, but sometimes I do. You have to remain flexible and adjust as you go.

I suggest you see where they are sleeping. Once they are sleeping on the roost you should be able to open the nests up without any problems as long as you have enough room on the roosts. They are creatures of habit and should be in the habit of sleeping on the roosts by then.

Good luck!

 

[olderoo]

There are many reasons they might sleep in the nests. They normally like to sleep as high as they can so your roosts need to be higher than the nests but there are still other reasons that could cause problems.

This is a great point. Many of the old housing plans had the nests near the floor away from the roosts. This forced the birds off the roost to lay, and made them less prone to sleeping in them.
As for bullying on the roost, about all you can do is ensure enough space. They naturally close ranks when sleeping - about 10-12" per bird should be the allowed roost space.