oh no! My nest boxes are above my roosts!

[jstlitlome]

Before I knew better, I had my nesting boxes built slightly above my highest perch by a couple of inches. We did this to preserve as much floor square footage as possible. I'm loving our coop!

But now I have read that they will try to roost as high as possible, and now looking at it, and knowing what my 7 week old chicks are like, I'm sure that they will! It makes complete sense and I'm not sure why I didnt think of that!

I have seen some people put curtains on their nest boxes. Do you think that this will deter the roosting? Will they find the boxes ok when the time comes? I'm really trying to avoid asking them to move the roosts, as I think that will require some significant re-design. They are going to their coop on Thursday and I'm trying not to be too picky of some really great work!

Thank you!

Leslie

 

[countrygoddess]

Many chickens will try and spend the night in the nesting boxes no matter at what height they are placed. Sometimes the only thing you can do is somehow block the boxes at night. For me, the answer was moving the nest boxes from beside the roosts to the other side of the chicken house. The curtains are to encourage pullets/hens to lay in the boxes and not on the floor or in some other "hiding place" (it seems darker and more private with the curtains).

 

[chfite]

In the long run, lowering the nests below the perches will be the best thing. I learned that blocking them at night and opening them in the day resulted from eggs being laid willy-nilly all over the coop, because their day apparently started earlier than mine.

Chris