I have this one hen that will not, not perch up on her roost. She keeps perching on the nest boxes!! She poos in there and i have to clean it out all the time becuase i can't brake her from it. I go out everynight to close their door and there she is on the next box perching...How do i stop this? I move her everynight but she only goes right back to it. What should i do? Is there anything that can be done? Oh and side note, there is plenty of perching space, i only have four birds in my coop, there is plenty of room. And the roost is higher up then the next boxes, the others are not picking on her or anything but she will not roost with them.
I have a slanting roof on my nest boxes, that the chickens can't sit or stand on due to the sharp angle of the roof. Therefore no perching, no poop. Maybe you could try something like this.
About an hour before birds go to roost make it so she can not get into nest. Repeat for a couple nights, then stop obstructing access to nest.
I have had some breeds that would like to lie down at night instead of perch. They will perch if you make the perch WIDER. For example if you are using a 2X2 inch perch, then nail a 4 X1 inche board accross the top to make a platform that is 4 inches wide for her. Basically take your perch and put a little platform on it so she can lie down. There are lots of reasons a hen may prefer to lie down and there is no reason that you cannot accomodate her preference. She will be a healthier and happier hen if you listen to her request and respond!
I had that problem and I put in some empty 1 or 2 gallon plant pots upside down to keep them out every night for about a week or two and it stopped them from doing it. You could put any convenient object to do this.
