Pullers sleeping in nesting boxes?

[dixiecluck]

I just put a nesting box in my coop and all 4 of my pullets are sleeping in it. It is well below the roost. The roost is about 4' high and the nesting box is about 2' off the floor. Any ideas why?

 

[Bmmjz Chicks]

If they are new chicks, you might need to put them on the roosts when it gets dark for a few days. After a couple of nights most of them should catch on.

 

[dixiecluck]

Ok. Thanks for the advice. I just don't want any bad habits to continue because of my chicken ignorance.

 

[Vicky2479]

Some of mine do this when I forget to go turn on the light in the coop, seems they can't see the roosts when it gets to dark so they just lay on the floor or in the boxes, it drives me nuts

 

[debid]

They'll automatically gravitate toward higher roosts once they are big enough to be confident about getting up there. Is there any sort of ladder for them or midway jumping points? Many won't fly up that high. I have hens that go straight up to a 3' roost and others that use the midway landing I provided to hop up in two stages. Also, if you have adults in with them, they can be easily bullied off the roost. In that case, add more roosts.

 

[dixiecluck]

I do have a ladder for them to go up, but they don't use it. I think once they get a little older they may use it more willingly. For now I'm just taking them out of the nesting box every evening and putting them up on the roost. Maybe they will come around soon. Thanks for the info.

 

[Diggidy]

Mine are about 3.5 months old and the 3 of them share one nesting box. I grab them when they are sleeping to put on the roost bar, but they havent taken to it yet. Kind of nasty that they would rather sleep in their mud monkeys.

 

[basementgal]

I was just wondering about their sleeping habits. Mine are 4 - 5 months old. My daughter was having someone make a shed for us but, he was taking tooooooo long to get started. Because I was going on vacation and needed something right away, they ended up in my metal shed.


I just put their current home (a large dog crate) inside along with a roost and bedding. That was 6 weeks ago. Every night they march into the shed and into the dog crate. They used to roost on the sticks I had in the crate but, had them taken out when moving it to the shed.

Was wondering if I should take the dog crate out. They look so warm all cuddled up in there. Should I put it up on blocks so they won't get a winter draft? I haven't made nesting boxes yet.

Also, the shed isn't exactly level. The roost is on the down hill side and the crate is up hill. Have thought about switching this around to see if it would make a difference.

Anyone have an opinion on this?

Thanks. I have learned a lot on this website.

 

[jobouss]

I kept my nesting boxes blocked off with a board. When they were old enough to start laying I took the board off. They now only go in the nesting boxes to lay eggs.

 

[Diggidy]

I was thinking about blocking the nesting boxes too. Its odd to see them piled on top of each other in there when its well over 90 outside.