My chickens will not go in their nesting box!!

[BeckySki0826]

I recently put my 6 chickens in their coop. ( For the 1st time ever) I've noticed they will not go up in to their nesting box, they lay on the ground all night. I've even put them in the nesting box when putting them away at night but the just fly out and back on the ground... Any suggestions?!? Am I doing something wrong?!?
Also this is my 1st time owning chickens.
I have 2 ambers 2 leghorns and 2 road island whites ...

 

[DobieLover]

Can you provide pictures of the interior of your coop? Why would you want them to sleep in the nest boxes? They'll poop in them and make a mess. Wouldn't you rather they slept on the roost?

 

[trumpeting_angel]

The nesting boxes are for egg-laying. How old are your chickens? Many owners block the nesting boxes until the girls are old enough to lay.

Chickens like to roost at night; in the jungle it was on a tree branch, and in a coop it’s on a roost. The roost should be higher than the nesting boxes or else they will sleep in them.

They want to sleep close together to keep warm, especially when they are young.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I recently put my 6 chickens in their coop. ( For the 1st time ever) I've noticed they will not go up in to their nesting box, they lay on the ground all night. I've even put them in the nesting box when putting them away at night but the just fly out and back on the ground... Any suggestions?!? Am I doing something wrong?!?
Also this is my 1st time owning chickens.
I have 2 ambers 2 leghorns and 2 road island whites ...

Welcome to Backyard Chickens nice of you to join us could you post photos of your coops and boxes please

 

[BeckySki0826]

I worded that wrong. Not In the nesting box. But they upper part of my coop. It has a roosting bar. ( Sorry I'm not familiar with the terms yet)
They have a nesting box then a roost bar but they stay out all night on the ground.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Oh! You’re new! Welcome, and be sure to post in the intro forum!

Where do you ski!

 

[DobieLover]

I worded that wrong. Not In the nesting box. But they upper part of my coop. It has a roosting bar. ( Sorry I'm not familiar with the terms yet)
They have a nesting box then a roost bar but they stay out all night on the ground.

Okay. Do you have a picture of the coop? That will help figure out a possible reason.

 

[BeckySki0826]

I will post pictures tomorrow of the inside. They are about 2 months old also maybe a little older.

 

[rosemarythyme]

They need to be trained to go into the coop and get on the roost. You can pick them up at dusk and manually place them on the roost to show them how to do it. If they continue to refuse to go in there you'll need to assess if there's enough light, enough ventilation, and enough space for them to want to use the area. This sounds possibly like a prefab coop, which is often lacking on all of those things.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Edited to add: what she said!

Can they get up and down easily?

People often place them on the roost at night, when they’re too sleepy to get down again. I suspect they’ll figure it out sooner or later, unless there’s a problem up there. A draft? Not enough headroom? An uncomfortable roost (like maybe a round metal bar or something)? The photos will help.