pooping in nest boxes!!!

[Cordelia_Adler]

This made me curious and I just checked. None of my girls are on a roosting bar. All in a nesting box, one doubled up six boxes, seven gals. Not a ton of poo but I do shake out the pads every morning. Maybe just what they want?

 

[rosemarythyme]

This made me curious and I just checked. None of my girls are on a roosting bar. All in a nesting box, one doubled up six boxes, seven gals. Not a ton of poo but I do shake out the pads every morning. Maybe just what they want?

It might be what they want to do but is it what YOU want them to do?

The reason you don't want them sleeping in there is mainly because you don't want poop on eggs. I clean out my nest boxes twice a year. If it weren't for the fact that I have new layers that have had a couple of accidents where they poop while laying, I probably wouldn't even need to clean that often.

 

[aart]

This made me curious and I just checked. None of my girls are on a roosting bar. All in a nesting box, one doubled up six boxes, seven gals. Not a ton of poo but I do shake out the pads every morning. Maybe just what they want?

How are your roosts set up......pics please?

It might be what they want to do but is it what YOU want them to do?

The reason you don't want them sleeping in there is mainly because you don't want poop on eggs. I clean out my nest boxes twice a year. If it weren't for the fact that I have new layers that have had a couple of accidents where they poop while laying, I probably wouldn't even need to clean that often.

Ditto Dat!^^^
I clean nests out if when there's a broken egg...
....and occasionally replenish or replace the straw.

 

[Cordelia_Adler]

How are your roosts set up......pics please?


Ditto Dat!^^^
I clean nests out if when there's a broken egg...
....and occasionally replenish or replace the straw.

 

[aart]

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Typical prefab....here's the best fix I've seen:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1134399/help-hens-roosting-in-nest-boxes/10#post_17749535

 

[rosemarythyme]

View attachment 1685657 View attachment 1685658 View attachment 1685659

Thanks for the photos, simply put, the roost bars are more like speed bumps because they're so low. Most chickens want to sit up higher if possible. If at all possible (looks like there's headroom for it) move or put new roosts a couple inches above the height of the nest boxes. Once you do that, you can either manually place them on the roosts at dusk, or cover up the nest box entrances with a sheet of cardboard at dusk so they can't go in there, then once they're all up you can remove the cardboard.

 

[Cordelia_Adler]

Thanks for the photos, simply put, the roost bars are more like speed bumps because they're so low. Most chickens want to sit up higher if possible. If at all possible (looks like there's headroom for it) move or put new roosts a couple inches above the height of the nest boxes. Once you do that, you can either manually place them on the roosts at dusk, or cover up the nest box entrances with a sheet of cardboard at dusk so they can't go in there, then once they're all up you can remove the cardboard.

Gotcha. Thanks!

 

[funnyfoshay]

I see that picture # 1 is the before and picture # 3 is the after of the nest walls. It looks like there is only an inch or two of triangular space, not enough for a chicken to try to roost upon. Good!
Now the roosts. I believe that is your problem. As @aart said, they don't look comfortable. The ladder is a steep angle not allowing room to fly up to easily or stand up as the rung above them is in the way and has another chicken on it which will poop on the one below it. I can't really see the other roost well but I think it goes along the side wall. How far from the wall is it? It needs to be a foot away. You could add another on the opposite wall, again 1 foot away from the wall, also at least 1 foot between the roosts. Considering the size of the coop there might not be much room to be able to fly up to the roosts. Can they be placed 1 foot above the floor?
Now, the coop size. 5x7 does accomadate 8-9 chickens. Do the nests sit on the floor? If so their dimensions must be subtracted from the floor space. Example: 3 nests 1sqft each means you have lost 3sqft from the coop living space. You're now down to accommodating 5-6 chickens. Your top six chickens have claimed the prime roosts. Your other 3 are not naughty, they are simply at the bottom of the pecking order. One way to remedy this could be to rebuild the nests on the outside of the coop freeing up that space and probably making it easier to make comfortable roosts and take out ladders.
I hope you can work this out. Your girls are all so pretty I'd never be able to get rid of any!

amazing Thank you for your thoughtful intelligent response.

 

[funnyfoshay]

Update So we had a visitor sneak in at dusk. My husband had to pull the ladders out of the coop one with a chicken attached because she REFUSED to get out of bed! After he evacuated the visitor he let all the girls back in the coop and replaced the ladders...but at a less steep angle and guess what? Tonight I have 6 on the ladders 3 on the horizontal roost snuggling together. No one in the nesting boxes, yippee!!

 

[Cryss]

Update So we had a visitor sneak in at dusk. My husband had to pull the ladders out of the coop one with a chicken attached because she REFUSED to get out of bed! After he evacuated the visitor he let all the girls back in the coop and replaced the ladders...but at a less steep angle and guess what? Tonight I have 6 on the ladders 3 on the horizontal roost snuggling together. No one in the nesting boxes, yippee!!View attachment 1691003

WELL! Thank you Mr. Opossum for being the catalyst to discovering a solution!