POOPING IN NEST BOX

[DLS]

The hens are just a few weeks away from point of lay. All of a sudden 2 days ago the decided to roost & poop in the nest box. I have 26 chickens(hens) & 30 nest holes . BUILT of wood with a small perch in front.
HOW can I stop this? I have not put hay in the boxes yet but the pooping will make a mess on my eggs
HELP

 

[Chirpy]

Unfortunately I can totally relate. Several of my hens sleep in my nestboxes and my eggs do end up with poo on them at times.

The first question to ask (which I didn't know when I built my hen house and thus made the mistake):

Are your roosts higher than your nest boxes? Chickens will tend to roost on whichever is higher. (My roost is the same height as my upper nest boxes and thus, I believe, my problem - we are fixing it with our new addition and hope it will stop my girls from sleeping in the nest boxes).

What I've done to help stop the eggs from getting so poopy is to get out early in the morning and clean out the nestboxes before the girls start to lay their eggs. I scoop out the poop and put in fresh shavings each morning. That actually has made a huge difference with the poo issue.

I also didn't have enough roost space for my girls (because none of them want to use the lower roost - they chose the nest boxes instead.) so I'm adding lots more roost space.

 

[dacjohns]

DLS,

I thought I had an insect on my screen.

Another thing you can try in addition to what Chirpy said is to take them out of the box and set them on the roost in the evening.

 

[JaciesCoop]

My nesting boxes are 2 rows of 6 and 6 on the wall and over them I have a "shelf" that is wider than the nesting boxes. The girls and the roo all roost on the shelf thus keeping the boxes clean, because it is the highest point. I also have roosting bars around the coop but they prefer to all cuddle up on the shelf

Jacie

 

[DLS]

could you post a picture of the shelf?

 

[JaciesCoop]

I'm sorry I was slow to respond. I didn't see your question until now so I ran out and took a quick pic.
I was wrong about one thing. The shelf is not as wide as the boxes but has a lip on it and is open at the end you cannot see for scooping clean But they do not get poop in the boxes.

Jacie

 

[DLS]

Thanks, I'm going to have to do something QUICK!!