Nesting Box Question

[North_FL_Coops]

I have an Omlet Eglu and I'm considering getting the automatic door device, but I was curious about the door to the nesting area. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've read that the door to the nesting area should also be closed at night to keep the hens in the roosting/sleeping area.

If that's the case, wouldn't I also need an automatic door closer for the door to the nesting area? (I don't see anything like that available, hence my confusion).

What would be the point of closing the coop door at night with a remote if I still need to go out to close the door to the nesting area?

Any advice/feedback is appreciated!

 

[Debbie292d]

Chickens will generally roost in the highest spot.

We have silkies so no roosts, and they sleep on top of the nest boxes or in them.

For the ones I don't want them in, I put an empty gallon milk jug in those.

I'd wait and see if it happens, as maybe it won't.

 

[SemiSweet2391]

Chickens will generally roost in the highest spot.

We have silkies so no roosts, and they sleep on top of the nest boxes or in them.

For the ones I don't want them in, I put an empty gallon milk jug in those.

I'd wait and see if it happens, as maybe it won't.

Wait silkies don’t roost?

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Wait silkies don’t roost?

they usually don't, because they can't fly.

 

[Debbie292d]

Wait silkies don’t roost?

No, we tried. One would, but the others wouldn't so that one lost out and we took them out many years ago.

They have a ladder to get up to the nest boxes.

 

[SemiSweet2391]

they usually don't, because they can't fly.

Did not know that lol

 

[PoppasGrill]

We had the same issue with our Silkie Roo. He roosted in the nesting box and, if not cleaned daily, the hens wouldn’t lay in it due to him pooing in it.
We have a few hens that will roost on top of nest boxes, due to other aggressive hens on the bars or a Roo that she doesn’t want roosting near her.
Blocking off the nest boxes after collecting eggs is one method I’ve heard of, using a swiveling board that you can push up.
We hung some nest boxes a while back and got upset that the girls weren’t using them. Spent some time monitoring it and found that every time a hen tried to use the boxes a predatory rooster would jump up into the box with her and she would scramble out. Watched this happen with 3 hens and the same Roo over a few days.

 

[rosemarythyme]

If your birds are roosting reliably, they shouldn't be in the nest boxes at night unless they're broody. I keep some cardboard in my coop to cover nests but very rarely need to use it.

If they are, then cover the entrance to the nests before nightfall, and uncover again once it's completely dark so they can lay first thing in the morning

 

[PoppasGrill]

I have an Omlet Eglu and I'm considering getting the automatic door device, but I was curious about the door to the nesting area. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've read that the door to the nesting area should also be closed at night to keep the hens in the roosting/sleeping area.

If that's the case, wouldn't I also need an automatic door closer for the door to the nesting area? (I don't see anything like that available, hence my confusion).

What would be the point of closing the coop door at night with a remote if I still need to go out to close the door to the nesting area?

Any advice/feedback is appreciated!

You can try both, most of our hens won’t lay on wire bottom nesting boxes, some like straw in the box, some like sand.
None of ours will lay in a roll away set up, where the eggs roll down out of the nesting area to be collected.

 

[perkolator]

If your rooster keeps sleeping in the nest box, I'd try to assess why they're not going up to the roosts - it could be an issue with the pathway up/down from them, it could even be an aggressive hen who's more dominant.

I currently have a bantam buff silkie rooster, for a while he got picked on by the older hens, but he definitely sleeps with all the other hens 6ft up in the air on the roost bars in the run. Have had other silkies in the past and they got up/down from those roosts without issue either. I do have a ladder system for them to use, but he can definitely jump/fly up like 3ft

IMO an auto door is semi-pointless if your coop is setup inside a secured run that they're penned in daily.