Pullets suddenly sleeping in nesting box

[K0k0shka]

I know this has been asked before... But the situation is usually a matter of inadequate/low roosting bars, broody hens, bullying or some other such issue. I went over previous posts, and none of those situations fit mine. So I'm curious what you guys think.

My pullets are almost 9 months old and have always slept on their roost, ever since I moved them to the coop last spring. They have sufficient room on the roost, the roost is much higher up than the nesting box, it's wide and thick and they can balance on it just fine to rearrange themselves. I have three roosts, in fact, arranged in a ladder formation to make it easier for the chickens to get up and down and maneuver (I have some heavy English Orpingtons that don't like heights). I have 5 pullets - three English Orpingtons and 2 Barnevelders, and they all get along great. Aside from the occasional peck on the head, there's no other drama. No fights, chasing, bullying, feather plucking etc. They eat together and nobody is keeping anybody from food or treats.

All was great until last week. One day at dusk, I noticed that one of the Orpingtons was in the nesting box. I thought she might be having a late egg, so I let her be for a while. A couple of hours later, she was still in there, so I took her out and put her on the roost with her friends. She did not object. There was an egg under her. Okay, I thought, maybe an evening egg and she didn't want to stumble out after dark. She was fine the next day - definitely not broody.

This would've been the end of it, but several days later, her best friend - another Orpington - did the same thing. In the nest at dusk... Still there a couple hours later, I moved her too except this time there were no eggs at all in the box. She didn't object, and she was fine the next day - also not broody.

Now this is becoming a pattern and I'm wondering what's going on. There has been no change in their lives at all. They are all healthy and acting normal. Any ideas?

Here's the roost setup - on some nights, they spread themselves out to take up the whole roost like this:

On other nights, they squish themselves together and you can see that they have lots of space on the roost:

The flat top with the scalloped edge in the bottom right corner is the top of the nesting box, that's how much lower it is. And here's what it looks like from the front (the two pullets in the picture are the two that slept in the box, though not on the day the photo was taken):

 

[Aapomp831]

Block off the nesting boxes at night with a large piece of wood... not sure why they’re doing it, someone may just be getting a little uppity and wants to sleep alone; could be that it’s slightly warmer in there. But still, I would block out of and see if it solves the problem. We block ours off every night.

 

[K0k0shka]

Block off the nesting boxes at night with a large piece of wood... not sure why they’re doing it, someone may just be getting a little uppity and wants to sleep alone; could be that it’s slightly warmer in there. But still, I would block out of and see if it solves the problem. We block ours off every night.

The problem with that is that they don't go into the boxes at night. They go in in the afternoon, while the others are still outside, and just stay there for the night. So I'd need to block the nesting boxes while there's still a chance one of them might legitimately lay... and I don't want to inadvertently encourage them to lay in other random places. So that's my complication I'm not sure how late into the day they could possibly lay, and if there's a safe time to just declare them done for the day and block the nests. Is there? I've found eggs in the afternoon after having collected at noon...

 

[Ridgerunner]

Practically all my hens have finished laying by 5:00 pm, even in the long days of summer, but I have had an extremely rare one lay practically up until dark. By rare I do not mean once a year, I mean once every three or four years. I don't know what your daylight hours look like now or when you gather eggs in the afternoon/evening but I could see tossing them out of the nests when you lock them up for the night from predators.

I'm totally confused as to why that has started. It is interesting that it is two different ones but not at the same time. At that age and with everything else my first thought would be bullying but you said it is not. I do not see any reason for them to do that.

To be clear, the way I'd handle that is when I lock them up for the night I'd clear the nests. I'd not even be nice enough to set them on a roost though that would probably be a good idea. I just toss mine on the coop floor, it's too dark for them to see to go back to the nests by then. If they want to be upset about that treatment, well good. They are behaving like spoiled brats and should be upset when they displease me. Seriously, I want them to know it is not safe to sleep in the nests.

 

[K0k0shka]

I just toss mine on the coop floor, it's too dark for them to see to go back to the nests by then. If they want to be upset about that treatment, well good. They are behaving like spoiled brats and should be upset when they displease me. Seriously, I want them to know it is not safe to sleep in the nests.

I'm too soft on mine - I put them back on the roost and make sure they have a good grip before I let go And I talk to them the whole time, so they know it's me. I think it's PTSD from when I went in one night to take out my last remaining cockerel for rehoming - thinking it would be less stressful after dark. I'd read a lot about people handling business in the dark. So I snuck in and the moment I touched him, there was an explosion of screaming and feathers everywhere, balls of chicken flying all around me, hitting the walls... Total mayhem! He flew out the door and I had to chase him all over the yard, stumbling over kids' toys and thorny bushes in the dark. So now whenever I go in after dark, I begin by introducing myself and I handle everybody very gently Luckily, the chickens love me and as soon as they know it's me, I can do anything to them and they'll be fine. And if I go out to investigate alarm screams in the middle of the night, they just need to hear my voice and they calm themselves instantly.

I'm totally confused as to why that has started. It is interesting that it is two different ones but not at the same time. At that age and with everything else my first thought would be bullying but you said it is not. I do not see any reason for them to do that.

They have me stumped, too. I thought maybe some isolated conflict that I'd missed, but the timing doesn't add up. In both cases, the boxed chicken settled in while the others were still outside, and remained in the box while they went on the perch. One of the days I even watched them go in and go straight for the roost, oblivious to the chicken in the box. So that rules out bedtime conflict/bullying. I doubt they'd hold a grudge from earlier in the day, and the offended chicken would preemptively hide in the box. All of them are so very mellow and non-confrontational. Both times the chicken went in the box before sundown, so I really thought she was laying, not going to bed... I'm so confused.

The last remaining thing I can think of is if they thought they had to lay, but it was taking a long time and it just got too late, so they stayed in the nest? In the first case, maybe the egg came out after dark and she just remained in the nest, and in the second case when there was no egg, she had a false alarm and didn't end up laying? I can't remember how many eggs I got that day, and if she had already laid or not. I did get eggs from everybody today, so I guess none of them are egg-bound...

 

[CluckerFamily]

Are they kind of in the middle of the pecking order? I have a couple hens in the middle that seem to love to spend as much time as they can in the nesting boxes... not to lay an egg... but to irritate the others that want to lay in that box. Usually I’ll call her by her name and tell her it isn’t nice And that she needs to leave so that everyone else can lay their egg... what is crazy is that they listen

 

[Aunt Angus]

My Silkies, who are nearly perpetually broody, do that even when they're not broody. If they're not broody, I just put them on the roost at night. In the morning, they're still where I left them.

My Cochin was doing this for a bit. When I lowered the roost, it stopped. Maybe they're too big to get up there easily? Maybe there are days they just don't feel like putting forth the effort???

Gorgeous flock, btw!

 

[K0k0shka]

Are they kind of in the middle of the pecking order? I have a couple hens in the middle that seem to love to spend as much time as they can in the nesting boxes... not to lay an egg... but to irritate the others that want to lay in that box. Usually I’ll call her by her name and tell her it isn’t nice And that she needs to leave so that everyone else can lay their egg... what is crazy is that they listen

They are sort of at the top, I think. It's really hard to figure out any order among my pullets. There are only 5 of them and they are all very mellow. No clear signs of dominance. The two Barnevelders (the darker ones in the pictures) are a lot smaller and naturally more shy, so they are lower, but the three large Orpingtons are undecided as to who's where between them, except that they are all above the Barnevelders. And only the Orps are laying. They just started recently. So not a lot of demand for the nesting boxes yet... Maybe it's because they're young and can't figure out when they need to lay and when it's a false alarm?

 

[K0k0shka]

My Cochin was doing this for a bit. When I lowered the roost, it stopped. Maybe they're too big to get up there easily?

Hmm... I have two other roosts though, at lower heights... If it was a height issue, wouldn't they just sleep on a lower roost?

Maybe there are days they just don't feel like putting forth the effort???

I'm starting to think that this is it. They're just lazy

Gorgeous flock, btw!

Aww thanks! Here's a better shot of them (and their very easy to get up to roosts):

 

[Ascholten]

Mine like to do that too once in a while one will get an idea and want to sleep in the nesting box. Generally I'll know the next day when I goto feed / clean them and there's a pile of poop in there. I'll wait till night time next time and toss her butt out of the box and onto the straw / floor. Sometimes she wants to be stubborn, then what I do is I have an old pillow, before I lock them up for the night, Ill stick a pillow in there, it effectively blocks off their ability to get up into the nesting box. Now they either sleep on the floor or on the perch.

Not really sure why they do it.. every time they do,but do know that sometimes when they stay out a bit late and its getting dark fast, she'll want to go up in there instead of hopping on the roosting pole. Maybe it's too dark and she don't want to try the hop up, I dunno.

Aaron