My Silkie Rooster keeps chilling in the nesting boxes all day

[ChickenLord33]

It's gotten to the point where I have to put him on the roost every night or he will try to sleep in a nesting box (and our roost is much higher than the nests, and all the other hens always prefer the roost to sleep on--he used to too!). Until about a week ago he would never do this. He is only 6 months old...is he figuring out how to be a rooster?? Today I pulled him out maybe 5 times during the day and every time he would "brrrrrrr" at me then sit there in a daze for a sec, perk up and peck around for a minute or two then literally RUN back to his favorite nesting box and jump in.

Does he just find it comfortable?? Was he attacked by something and now he feels safe there? I'm so confused.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Silkies normally don't roost "high" ... They can't fly due to their feathering.
Are you sure it's a Roo? How about a picture of it side view standing and of it's comb?

 

[50-45-1]

Maybe your he is really a her.
Let's see a picture
If your silky was roosting with the others, it means it can get up there but chooses not to. Is it possibly being bullied by the others?
Has this rooster been crowing and mounting the hens?

 

[ChickenLord33]

Maybe your he is really a her.
Let's see a picture
If your silky was roosting with the others, it means it can get up there but chooses not to. Is it possibly being bullied by the others?
Has this rooster been crowing and mounting the hens?

It looks like he is getting bullied by our big Green Queen. I saw her aggressively put her whole beak around his. He is also very skittish around a lot of the other chickens right now. It's so weird, I think that maybe he was trying to be dominant as the rooster but at some point it backfired because the hens outgrew him (we have many different types that are the same age, and some older hens).

I'm hoping he will start standing up for himself but I'm a little worried because he seems to be staying in the nest all day. I keep taking him out and he walks around awhile and does his thing, drinks some water and eats some food but within a few minutes he wants to jump back in his nest like a little baby. I'm worried he will just keep getting smaller and not have enough energy to compete with the others. Maybe I will need to separate our Green Queen for a day or two and see if he feels more comfortable.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

It looks like he is getting bullied by our big Green Queen. I saw her aggressively put her whole beak around his. He is also very skittish around a lot of the other chickens right now. It's so weird, I think that maybe he was trying to be dominant as the rooster but at some point it backfired because the hens outgrew him (we have many different types that are the same age, and some older hens).

I'm hoping he will start standing up for himself but I'm a little worried because he seems to be staying in the nest all day. I keep taking him out and he walks around awhile and does his thing, drinks some water and eats some food but within a few minutes he wants to jump back in his nest like a little baby. I'm worried he will just keep getting smaller and not have enough energy to compete with the others. Maybe I will need to separate our Green Queen for a day or two and see if he feels more comfortable.

Are you sure it’s male?

 

[ChickenLord33]

Here are some pics of him. Idk I'm pretty sure he's a rooster bc his plumage is so distinctly different VS our other 3 Silkie girls and his wattles came in faster. Our girls have nice round perfect plumage and his is slicked back and less dense. He also just acts way different than them and, previously, always wanted to be in front and first before the others.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

@PippinTheChicken @Silkie Princess

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Here are some pics of him. Idk I'm pretty sure he's a rooster bc his plumage is so distinctly different VS our other 3 Silkie girls and his wattles came in faster. Our girls have nice round perfect plumage and his is slicked back and less dense.

Looks like it could be female to me…

 

[ChickenLord33]

Looks like it could be female to me…

Even if that were true it doesn't explain the behavior, at least with our hens they've only done this while broody and it's easy to tell if they are being broody or not and how to break them out of it. They also dont run back to the nest or sit in empty nests the whole day. The pics aren't the best to see the shape of his plumage, but I assure you it is nothing like the girls and it is obviously slicked back and less dense.

 

[ChickenLord33]

Silkies normally don't roost "high" ... They can't fly due to their feathering.
Are you sure it's a Roo? How about a picture of it side view standing and of it's comb?

Our Silkies love to roost about 5 feet up. They will go as high as they can climb and then find a way down. I only mentioned the height otherwise someone would say he's going into the box because the roost isn't high enough.