Is this normal?!

[M_Struna]

My ten girls are about two months old. When they go to the coop for the night I’ve noticed that they are still cramming themselves into one 12x12” nesting box. I understood it initially, given the feeling of safety and staying warm. But they’re bigger now and have plenty of feathers for the 65 degree night temperatures. They’ve got two flat 2x4 roosting bars and are securely locked in. What the heck is going on? I’m afraid someone is going to get crushed! If this is for security purposes I’d hate to block off all the nesting boxes and stress them out. Advice?

 

[sourland]

Are the roosts higher than the nesting boxes? If not, they need to be raised, and the nest boxes need to be blocked off until the pullets start using the roosts.

 

[M_Struna]

Are the roosts higher than the nesting boxes? If not, they need to be raised, and the nest boxes need to be blocked off until the pullets start using the roosts.

Yes. The roosting bars are higher than the nesting boxes. That’s what I was thinking, too. Thanks!