My chickens will not go in their nesting box!!

[Bamas-Chicks]

It sounds nuts but they don't poop were the sleep or lay,the poop always seems to be more towards the entrance like they know not to poop were they lay to sleep

 

[GC-Raptor]

I had a older hen that decided to sleep in a nest box, after two years of sleeping on the roosts. So I went out an hour before sunset and block the nests with gallon jugs. I wedged them in tightly. . Then when I go out to lockup the coops after sunset, I removed the jugs, so the nests were available first thing in the morning.
After a week, I stopped putting the jugs in the nests and she was retrained to use the roosts. GC

 

[Bamas-Chicks]

Yeah I think im gonna try the blocking the box entrance and see how it goes.

 

[MarylouBunny]

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 ...

They want

 

[MarylouBunny]

Not sure where you live but you can buy what I call nesting mattresses on line...I don't remember what they call them. But they are soft, natural hay like material and hens like them because they can peck around and make a little chicken sized nest....Like what we do when we fluff up our pillows. My hens originally chose to have eggs in leaves, just like the nesting stuff because it could be fluffed up. That was not good because I had to look all around the yard to find eggs.

 

[MarylouBunny]

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

not old enough for eggs

 

[Squirrelbait]

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 ...

Chickens should not sleep in nesting boxes. Those are for laying eggs only. Your coop should have bars where the chickens perch at night to sleep. This is a natural behavior and should no need to be trained. Even if they are not old enough for eggs, they still need roosting bars for sleeping. They will start to go in the nesting boxed when they are ready to lay.

 

[michaelbell317]

When we moved our chicks outside to the coop, we restricted them to the coop for at least a week before we even let them outside. They got used to that being home. They also bedded down at night in the bedding on the coop floor. As they got older they began to realize the joys of roosting. Now, they are eager to come out of the coop in the mornings and put themselves to bed at night. We just open and close the door for them.

 

[Thomas70]

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 ...

Mine did not start using the nesting boxes until they were about 6 months old and began to lay, and they found the boxes on their own. If yours have not started laying then they will not use the boxes other than to sleep and they will poop in them.

 

[cbhunter777]

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 the forum. My first batch of chicks went from a brooder to a chicken tractor without a roost bar. Very low to the ground and they slept in a pile like puppies when not in the coop part. When I put them in a proper coop the first thing they did was start sleeping either on the ground or in the nest boxes (which I knew I should not encourage). I patiently cleaned the boxes every day and waited to see what happened. Happy to report they figured it all out without further intervention on my part and none sleep in the nest boxes or on the floor. They happily roost on the barn, lay on the nest and run around outside most of the day. It took several weeks for them to figure it all out but they did. Sometimes we try to do more than needed sooner than required. I hope yours catch on soon and show you how smart they are!