Roosting bars

I don't know for sure but it seems that with chickens, while there is a pecking order, they also want to congregate together at roost time. Perhaps if the nest boxes were directly under the roost poles, bottom of the pecking order hens might be inclined to roost in the boxes?? Not sure...might just be talking out of my elbow, but that makes sense to me.

 

I allow mine to free range in the afternoons. By that time most have layed already and will give them a chance to get some exercise. But if letting them out would cause a problem or if you have other types you,want to keep separate guess that would work.

 

nestboxes should be a separate entity from the roosts as much ad possible, and it helps to have nestboxes as LOW as possible and the roosts as HIGH as posdible--chickens like to lay in low, hidden spots and roost in the highest spot, so you save a lot of grief trying to get them to do the right thing in the right place by designing it with their preferences in mind (not yours) in the first place to elininate confusion.

that said, if saving space is really a concern or something, having nestboxes under roosts should not be a problem as long as there is no possible way for poop to drop, sift, spill, drip, or otherwise end up in the nestboxes, and you provide enough roosting room on your roosts that no one gets excluded and winds up having to sleep in the boxes instead. if you do have sleepers in the boxes, you can find an easy way to block them off at night and open them up early in the morning--but that only works well if youre up at dawnish.