Perch and nest boxes.

[Mrs Clutterbuck]

My husband threw together a coop without looking into it too deeply. The problem I have is that the girls prefer to go up to the nest boxes to sleep and avoid the perch. I usually have to go and lift them down into the perch area or they will poop where they lay. I have 3 Brown Shavers, about 24weeks old. The perch is made from 2x4" timber.
Do you think this is normal, a design fault, or a behavioural problem? What should I do about it?

 

[seanb]

Your perches should be higher than your nest boxes. I'm not an expert but in my limited experience, my chickens always roost as high as they can. Hopefully it's not a lot of work for you to reverse your situation and have your roosts higher than the nest boxes.

 

[KDK1]

Yeah, what seanb said!

 

[Mrs Clutterbuck]

Wow

, thank you so much for that info, this is why I joined BYC. I'm sure I can rearrange the coop, question is now will that affect the laying habits as they have been laying up there?

 

[grauerholzfarm]

My nests have a bar to perch on to get into the nests. I have like an elbow joint on the perches so they can be lifted, blocking any poultry from getting in them. I usually do this around 6 before my babies try to get in the nests

 

[Mrs Clutterbuck]

Good idea, thanks I will have to go back to the drawing board.