Roosting at Night Problem

[govolsguy31]

Hey guys-

We got our 6 pullets home yesterday afternoon and last night was their first night in the new coop (Coop build thread can be found HERE).

Everything is perfect, except they've decided to roost on top of the nesting boxes as opposed to on the roosting bars. One of the girls is only 8 weeks; I'm not ever sure how she got up there! (I checked on them last night around 10pm before going to bed myself and all six of them were up there).

In looking at it, the top of the nesting boxes is about the same level as the top roosting bar. I could install a 4th roosting bar, but it would be further back, in line vertically with the current middle bar.

Lowering the nesting boxes could be done, although that would be more work the way it's built than simply adding another bar.

Is it possible they're young and just prefer the wider area of the top of the nesting boxes as opposed to roosting on the bar?

Any help or input would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[50-45-1]

You are very handy with tools to build that coop.
I love it!
What you need is to add another board at an angle from the back wall to the front of the nest boxes. This will end the perching there.
If you add end pieces, you could hinge this angled lid and use the space above the nest boxes for chicken stuff, first aide items, and things like shearers, mite powder, wound ointment...
Love to see it when you are done.

 

[govolsguy31]

You are very handy with tools to build that coop.
I love it!
What you need is to add another board at an angle from the back wall to the front of the nest boxes. This will end the perching there.
If you add end pieces, you could hinge this angled lid and use the space above the nest boxes for chicken stuff, first aide items, and things like shearers, mite powder, wound ointment...
Love to see it when you are done.

Makes total sense! Ok, I’ll do that in the next day or two. Thanks for the input!

 

[rosemarythyme]

What you need is to add another board at an angle from the back wall to the front of the nest boxes.

x2, very easy fix to add a slanted board on top of the nest box. A 45 degree slant is good, birds slide right off. I built my nests with the slant built in, but you can simply add an extra piece on top of the boxes you have.