Pullets scratch all the bedding from their roost area into the nestboxes

[SusiesPeeps]

I'm wondering if some experienced chicken keepers could help me out with this scratching behavior issue. We have 6 20-week old pullets (1 Cinnamon Queen, 1 Jersey Giant, 1 Barred Rock, 1 Buff Orpington, and 2 Light Brahmas). The photo of my coop from TSC is linked to below with the description of the set-up. In addition to the run that is attached to the coop, we have a larger 8 x 8 run with multiple perches the chicks enjoy. Both runs have washed sand. I use Koop Kleen for the poop board and have just begun to use plastic nest pads and ceramic eggs for the nestboxes. My JG started laying a few tiny eggs this week. The chicks get a mixture of grower and layer feed and I just started putting out some oyster shell as a free choice. I made some nestbox curtains for them for privacy.

The problem I've been having for the past month or so is that every day when I clean out the poop drawer, my CQ and JG immediately fly up through the pop door and enter the coop as I'm cleaning it and begin scratching away all the messy bedding. They scratch it into the nestboxes, which are adjacent, and out of the pop door and onto the ramp down to the run below. Initially, when they first started doing this, the scratching was minimal, so I thought it was just an activity for them, and I would chat with them as I was cleaning the poop drawer. But, the scratching became more aggressive as they grew, making sliding out the poop board very difficult. So, I tried closing the pop door so no one could get in while I clean. The two "partners in crime" fly up to the roost in the run and whimper at me because they can't get into the roost area while I'm cleaning. When I'm done cleaning the poop board and relining it with fresh bedding, I open the pop door and the two fly right up and scratch all the new bedding into the nestboxes and out the pop door onto the ramp and the run below. I recall reading an older post about a similar situation, and someone suggested putting a panel of wood between the roost area and the nestboxes to keep the bedding out of there, but I tried that and discovered some of the chicks started roosting on the edge of the wood panel - even though it is so thin! Their back ends were facing the nestboxes and, needless to say, the nests were full of poop in the morning. Someone I know personally who keeps chickens suggested I just keep the pop door closed from noon until bedtime but I'm not sure how that will affect laying since they can't access the nestboxes without going through the roosting area. If anyone has some suggestions, I'd surely appreciate some. Thanks!
Chicken coop from TSC is actually a pull-out poop board with 2 roosts and adjacent to it are 3 nestboxes less than 2 inches below the roosts.

 

[aart]

I recall reading an older post about a similar situation, and someone suggested putting a panel of wood between the roost area and the nestboxes to keep the bedding out of there, but I tried that and discovered some of the chicks started roosting on the edge of the wood panel - even though it is so thin! Their back ends were facing the nestboxes and, needless to say, the nests were full of poop in the morning.

The link doesn't show to interior, could you take some pics of where the roosts are in relation to the nests?
This is a common problem with prefab coops....roost are usually too low.
They might like scratching at the bedding because it's more fun than the sand outside in the run.
Also new layer are notorious for destroying the nest bedding until they get in the habit of laying well.

 

[SusiesPeeps]

The link doesn't show to interior, could you take some pics of where the roosts are in relation to the nests?
This is a common problem with prefab coops....roost are usually too low.
They might like scratching at the bedding because it's more fun than the sand outside in the run.
Also new layer are notorious for destroying the nest bedding until they get in the habit of laying well.

Thanks for responding and the info on new layers! I'll go out today and take some pics for posting.

 

[SusiesPeeps]

Thanks for responding and the info on new layers! I'll go out today and take some pics for posting.

Here are photos of the interior of the roosting area and adjacent nestboxes. The nests are only about 2 inches below the roosts. Today I'm cutting the curtain strips and sewing them up a couple of inches so what little height difference there is will be more visible to them if that matters.