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- #11
I made some changes over the weekend that seems to have helped the situation.
1) I made a huge roosting bar do-hickey (with plenty of space between roosts) that hangs off the wall above the nesting boxes and makes them a little darker. (see pic below)
2) Swapped out the shop light for a small fluorescent lamp and only have it come on from 5:00 to 7:30 rather than morning and night.
3) Added a small night light just in case someone didn't make it onto the roosting bars when the over head light goes off.
4) Moved a brick and grit dispenser into the corner where I knew one hen was laying.
So the first day after the aforementioned changes, every hen had laid an egg in a nesting box. Wahoo! And, some had used the upper boxes so I guess I didn't hang the roosting bars too low.
You cannot tell from the picture, but the roosting box is 48 inches wide and extends about 36 inches. Because it is over the nesting boxes I have put a bottom on it and used vinyl flooring to catch the poop. It works great. I just need to fashion some kind of thing-o-ma-bob to catch the poop as it slides down the vinyl. Something that will be easy for me to empty.
I snuck out before dawn this morning and every hen, and even the rooster, was using the new roost except for two relatively new/young pullets who have as of yet not been fully accepted into the flock. They were roosting on the bottom rung of the lowest nesting box. None of the nesting boxes has ever had poop in it so I would say they haven't been sleeping in them.
Maybe now I can remove the smaller roosting bars and make a ladder up to the bigger ones, which will give me more floor space.
Now to my problem of why the two pullets are not being accepted.
Thanks all for the great advice and observations.
1) I made a huge roosting bar do-hickey (with plenty of space between roosts) that hangs off the wall above the nesting boxes and makes them a little darker. (see pic below)
2) Swapped out the shop light for a small fluorescent lamp and only have it come on from 5:00 to 7:30 rather than morning and night.
3) Added a small night light just in case someone didn't make it onto the roosting bars when the over head light goes off.
4) Moved a brick and grit dispenser into the corner where I knew one hen was laying.
So the first day after the aforementioned changes, every hen had laid an egg in a nesting box. Wahoo! And, some had used the upper boxes so I guess I didn't hang the roosting bars too low.
You cannot tell from the picture, but the roosting box is 48 inches wide and extends about 36 inches. Because it is over the nesting boxes I have put a bottom on it and used vinyl flooring to catch the poop. It works great. I just need to fashion some kind of thing-o-ma-bob to catch the poop as it slides down the vinyl. Something that will be easy for me to empty.
I snuck out before dawn this morning and every hen, and even the rooster, was using the new roost except for two relatively new/young pullets who have as of yet not been fully accepted into the flock. They were roosting on the bottom rung of the lowest nesting box. None of the nesting boxes has ever had poop in it so I would say they haven't been sleeping in them.
Maybe now I can remove the smaller roosting bars and make a ladder up to the bigger ones, which will give me more floor space.
Now to my problem of why the two pullets are not being accepted.
Thanks all for the great advice and observations.
