Nest box "training"

[YogiMamaSkye]

We have three hens, all eighteen weeks, who were previously sleeping in the nest boxes—I know, I know, BAD chicken mama, but they had some early trauma with a roo we thought was a pullet, and they seemed to like to snuggle, so ... Anyway, now they are sleeping on the roost in the coop, but to get them there we had to board up the nest boxes.

Well, now they're getting close to laying age, so we need to open the nest boxes again. Any advice on how to get them to stay sleeping on the roost and not return to the old habit of sleeping in the nest boxes?

Thanks!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

The most important thing is to make sure the nests aren't higher then the roosts. Chickens like to sleep in whatever is highest. Also, make sure nothing is wrong with the roosts. And, put fake eggs in the nest so they see that the nests are for laying.

Best wishes!

 

[YogiMamaSkye]

Fake eggs!??! That is awesome. I will definitely try that. I hadn't thought about height. We actually ended up lowering our roost because the girls couldn't figure out how to fly up to it. This was when they were 12 weeks, so now that they're nearly full grown, perhaps we should try raising the roost again to see if they can manage it. Thanks for your help!

 

[sourland]

Chickens generally like to roost at the highest point possible - the roosts should be higher than the nest boxes.

 

[aart]

.....or move the nests lower than the roost if you can't put the roost up higher because of access problems.
They need to be able to get down from the roosts without flying into a wall or jumping so far that they injure their feet.

Golf balls work as fake eggs too.

Watch that they don't start sleeping in the nests again. Just take them out after dark and put them back on the roost, or chase them out of the nests at dusk as they are going to roost(I have outside access to the nests so it was easy to open the access door and give them a poke). Might take a few days or weeks of doing this to change their habit.