pooping in nest boxes!!!

[funnyfoshay]

3 of my 9 girls like to roost (sleep)sitting on the walls of the nesting boxes. Filling several of the boxes with lots of poop! Its gross! and I think some of my chickies don't want to lay in the poopy boxes. but sometimes they do and the eggs are coated in poop.

Why wont these 3 roost with the group on the ladder and roost that the other 6 enjoy?
How can I alter their behavior? Shove them out of the boxes? reconstruct the boxes somehow so I can still reach the eggs but the walls are not too comfy and tempting roosts? Give away the naughty birds because my coop is overcrowded?
What should I do?

This photo was taken at chicken bedtime! see my naughty buff orpington "Fondue" and white Barred Rock(actually I don't know her breed) "Pip" usually one of the Buff Brahmas "Acorn" joins them too!

 

[imnukensc]

Hard to say, but from the pics that coop looks way too small for 9 LF. What is the size of the coop? How much roost space? You could make the walls of the nest boxes higher so the birds can't roost there.

 

[DobieLover]

What are your coop dimensions?
Are the girls who sleep in the boxes at the bottom of the pecking order?
My 2 LHs occasionally sleep in the nest boxes because they failed to secure a spot on the roost away from some of the intolerant higher ranking pullets.
Until I build my new larger coop in the spring, I tolerate this and just clean the boxes during morning chores if needed.
Roosting time can be ugly business for the lowest ranking girls. They are likely just trying to keep from getting the tar pecked out of them.

 

[robson1015]

I would put a lower roof over the nest boxes so it is just big enough for one chicken to fit in to lay eggs. Take away the roost between the boxes.

 

[CPT]

Mine do the same thing...they use it as a chicken potty. If there is no room on the roost bar, some of them sleep in the nesting boxes. I just clean it out and put in fresh shavings. And then they kick out the shavings to lay eggs, sigh. I just purchased two of those Free Range Covered Nesting boxes....I will probably swap those out and see what happens!
Good website here: https://www.communitychickens.com/7-criteria-for-a-good-nesting-box-giveaway/

 

[nchls school]

Why wont these 3 roost with the group on the ladder and roost that the other 6 enjoy?either there isn't room or flock dynamics keeps them from the perch. Possibly it just from their preference or out of habit.
How can I alter their behavior? When I find this happening I put up more roosts and make the nest boxes unacessable. Shove them out of the boxes? Maybe move them late in the evening. reconstruct the boxes somehow so I can still reach the eggs but the walls are not too comfy and tempting roosts?Yes. Give away the naughty birds because my coop is overcrowded?Possibly.
What should I do? The picture does make your birds seem crowded. Is there a way to make the coop larger? Possibly the roosts can be redesigned to allow for more room so your nine can roost and not be crowded.

 

[DobieLover]

Mine do the same thing...they use it as a chicken potty. If there is no room on the roost bar, some of them sleep in the nesting boxes. I just clean it out and put in fresh shavings. And then they kick out the shavings to lay eggs, sigh. I just purchased two of those Free Range Covered Nesting boxes....I will probably swap those out and see what happens!

If your chickens are sleeping in the nest boxes because there is no room left on the roost, your coop is either too small or you need another roost.

 

[funnyfoshay]

Hard to say, but from the pics that coop looks way too small for 9 LF. What is the size of the coop? How much roost space? You could make the walls of the nest boxes higher so the birds can't roost there.

I wish I could post the video I took...in the attached photo I am standing inside the coop There is about 18 inches of unoccupied roost to the right of me in the photo...6/7 of the girls cram together every night and then there are the 2 to 3 goof balls who roost in the nests. One nesting box stays clean and that is where most lay...but a couple of them like to use another box and it gets poopy!!!

We purchased the coop from a guy in Maine and it is made for up to 15 hens, it is 5x7 feet. and about 6 feet tall in the peak of the ceiling. It is a built like a small shed, I can walk in and move around with plenty of space. I could camp out in there if it were not full of bedding and poop. I am 5'3.

 

[DobieLover]

I wish I could post the video I took...in the attached photo I am standing inside the coop There is about 18 inches of unoccupied roost to the right of me in the photo...6/7 of the girls cram together every night and then there are the 2 to 3 goof balls who roost in the nests. One nesting box stays clean and that is where most lay...but a couple of them like to use another box and it gets poopy!!!

We purchased the coop from a guy in Maine and it is made for up to 15 hens, it is 5x7 feet. and about 6 feet tall in the peak of the ceiling. It is a built like a small shed, I can walk in and move around with plenty of space. I could camp out in there if it were not full of bedding and poop. I am 5'3.

I would say you are maxed out at 9 birds in a coop that size.
I'd try to get another bar in there and make sure it is higher than the nest boxes.
As @imnukensc suggests you can also raise the divider wall heights so the chickens cannot roost on top of them.
Getting a bit more roost space should help.

 

[CPT]

If your chickens are sleeping in the nest boxes because there is no room left on the roost, your coop is either too small or you need another roost.

Very true. It's a walk-in coop. We may possibly add on. In the meantime, on one side, we have one bar that most of them roost on, some nesting boxes, and I put in one of those 3 tiered plastic shelves that we put on the other side of the coop. It's like a chicken apartment. They take turns sleeping on each shelf. That temporarily solved the problem.