My chickens aren’t roosting

[SuburbanWyandottes]

Good morning!

My family and I are raising our first flock. We have 4 Wyandotte’s (2 gold laced, 2 silver). They are about 14 weeks old, but still not using their roosting bars, and are sleeping in the laying boxes. I know they will start laying in the next 4-6 weeks, how do I break this behavior and keep their boxes open for laying? Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum, glad you joined.

Are your roosts noticeably higher than the nests? If not, change thing around. Can they get up and down to and from the roosts? A photo may help us make suggestions.

Assuming your roosts are higher than the nests, you have a few options. I totally agree you want the nests open when they start to lay so you don't teach them to lay somewhere else. But you have a couple of weeks. Block off the nests and force them to find somewhere else to sleep. Once they are in that new habit, open the nests back up.

Another option, assuming the coop is pretty dark at night and you ave access, is to move them from the nest to the roost after dark. Using as little light as possible just pick them up and set the on the roosts. They should get the message after a few nights.

If your roosts are not noticeably higher than the nests this can get hard.

 

[SuburbanWyandottes]

Thanks for responding! No the roosting bars are pretty level with the boxes. We bought a pre-fabricated coop for now. Here’s some pics

Welcome to the forum, glad you joined.

Are your roosts noticeably higher than the nests? If not, change thing around. Can they get up and down to and from the roosts? A photo may help us make suggestions.

Assuming your roosts are higher than the nests, you have a few options. I totally agree you want the nests open when they start to lay so you don't teach them to lay somewhere else. But you have a couple of weeks. Block off the nests and force them to find somewhere else to sleep. Once they are in that new habit, open the nests back up.

Another option, assuming the coop is pretty dark at night and you ave access, is to move them from the nest to the roost after dark. Using as little light as possible just pick them up and set the on the roosts. They should get the message after a few nights.

If your roosts are not noticeably higher than the nests this can get hard.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's a typical problem with the prefab coops, they are often not really designed for chickens. And that one is not big enough to give you many options.

I'd try screwing a board across the back and put one across the door frame so you can still close the door and raise those roosts 6" to 8". I don't think you have much more vertical room than that.

 

[aart]

Here's a good mod for those coops:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-in-nest-boxes.1134399/page-2#post-17749535

But I'd strongly suggest you start looking for a bigger coop.

Oh, and...Welcome to BYC! @SuburbanWyandottes
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Here's a good mod for those coops:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-in-nest-boxes.1134399/page-2#post-17749535

But I'd strongly suggest you start looking for a bigger coop.

Oh, and...Welcome to BYC! @SuburbanWyandottes
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!
View attachment 1837998

@aart the link did not work for me. I don't know if our current thunderstorm has anything to do with that, but I don't think so.

 

[blackdog043]

Didn't work for me either, it gave me an error.

 

[aart]

@aart the link did not work for me.

Didn't work for me either, it gave me an error.

Thanks for letting me know....think I've fixed it?

 

[blackdog043]

@aart Yep, works now.

 

[SuburbanWyandottes]

Here's a good mod for those coops:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-in-nest-boxes.1134399/page-2#post-17749535

But I'd strongly suggest you start looking for a bigger coop.

Oh, and...Welcome to BYC! @SuburbanWyandottes
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!
View attachment 1837998

This is great, thanks! And I updated my profile, I'm in Chicago