Perchless silkie pile

[KatiewithZena]

Sleeping in nest boxes is bad because they poop while they sleep. This means they can end up with poop stuck in their feathers, plus it gets on the Nesting material and the eggs. Also, it makes it harder to tell when one is broody be user one of the signs is staying in the box all the time even at night. So even though they don’t have to roost “high up” it is better to discourage sleeping in the nest boxes and try to help them find a better place to sleep.

OK great thanks, if that's the only reasons why it's bad then it's OK to leave them sleep where they wish, because they only ever sleep in one box together and only ever lay eggs in the other box, what good little chickens I have
I regularly clean out the box where they sleep, and they always have nice clean fluffy butts
I have a camera in the coop so I can see what goes on in there during the day when they go to lay eggs, now all I need is one of them to go broody..... If they both happen to go broody at the same time then I'll have to sort something out!
Thanks again!

 

[GingerRose]

I dont know if your situation is still happening, but, if you wanted them to roost on a perch at night, you could close off the nesting boxes, only temporarily, at night, for a little while. Opening them back up in the mornings. They may roost and they may pile up somewhere else. I had to do this for some of my silkies. I have seperate coops, by color, for mine. I didnt like having to clean out several nest boxes everyday, as well as their feathers and feet. It worked for me.

 

[KatiewithZena]

I dont know if your situation is still happening, but, if you wanted them to roost on a perch at night, you could close off the nesting boxes, only temporarily, at night, for a little while. Opening them back up in the mornings. They may roost and they may pile up somewhere else. I had to do this for some of my silkies. I have seperate coops, by color, for mine. I didnt like having to clean out several nest boxes everyday, as well as their feathers and feet. It worked for me.

It is. But I have one hen who is broody now sitting on some eggs so I don't want to disrupt her... Also I'm grateful that none of them have any poop stuck in their feathers around their rear or feet, they seem very clean. They wood shavings seem to do a great job of drying out the poop and then most of it just falls to the floor of the coop, a monthly clean out is all I need to do and I'm happy with that
Thanks for your message, appreciate it.
I do have 11 chicks in a brooder inside at the moment too, so when they are ready to join the others my hen will have hatched her eggs by then, so then I might try closing off the nesting boxes then

 

[GingerRose]

It is. But I have one hen who is broody now sitting on some eggs so I don't want to disrupt her... Also I'm grateful that none of them have any poop stuck in their feathers around their rear or feet, they seem very clean. They wood shavings seem to do a great job of drying out the poop and then most of it just falls to the floor of the coop, a monthly clean out is all I need to do and I'm happy with that
Thanks for your message, appreciate it.
I do have 11 chicks in a brooder inside at the moment too, so when they are ready to join the others my hen will have hatched her eggs by then, so then I might try closing off the nesting boxes then

I hope it all works out in the easiest manner for you.
Keep us posted in the future, please.

 

[preciouschick]

I have tried to train my silkies to perch themselves, and still they pile. It’s a cute pile, but a pile nonetheless.
My three silkies are five months. They have not started laying, yet.
I have been putting them up on a perch every night for four months. They stay all night and some mornings are afraid to jump down.
I have cut their feathers around their eyes so they see better.
We have lowered the perch to four inches off the floor.

We rehomed an older silkie who didn’t fit with her flock. She perched herself on night two. Laid eggs in the nesting box. EASY! She’s been perching herself every night - until we gave up perching the original three. Now, she, too, has picked up the bad habit of sleeping in a nesting box. I know this is a no-no.

I can’t put the chickens to bed every night for the rest of their lives. What do I do now?

I’ve given up!

Some my silkies lay on the shavings in the coop or nesting boxes also. 2 out of 7 perch on the roost at night. I let them do what they want. I do go and mix up the shavings so they are not laying on piles of poop, and clean out when necessary.