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roosting in nesting box

Discussion in 'Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying' started by Baxter's Chickens, Jun 28, 2011.

Most Liked Posts
  1. Jun 28, 2011 #1
    Baxter's Chickens

    Baxter's Chickens Out Of The Brooder

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    Apr 8, 2011
    Hi we have four girls 2 Jersey Giants, 1 Dominic, 1 Easter Egger. They are 15 weeks old and the faces are getting a bit red. We are transitioning them from medicated chick feed to layer feed 50/50 this week.
    My concern is, we have three nesting boxes in the coop each with some hay and a golf ball (hopefully to teach them), however, they seem to be perching on the edge of the boxes and sleeping/pooping there at night.
    They have a perch in the coop it is a bit higher than the nesting boxes, but they do not use it. Should I be worried? Anything I should do?

    Thanks so much for the help.
     
  3. Jun 28, 2011 #2
    LarryPQ

    LarryPQ Easter Hatch!!

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    They'll start roosting when they are ready. Don't worry about it too much. Once one roosts, the rest will follow.
     
  5. Jun 28, 2011 #3
    Baxter's Chickens

    Baxter's Chickens Out Of The Brooder

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    Apr 8, 2011
    OK Thanks. I am really new to this, and sure appreciate the help.
     
  7. Jun 28, 2011 #4
    sadies chicks

    sadies chicks Chillin' With My Peeps

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    Apr 19, 2011
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    If you want to...when the birds are getting ready to sleep you can pick up one of the birds and place it on the roost. It will most likely just stay there since they turn in to "chicken zombies" once they are sleepy and won't put up much of a struggle. We did that and they just stayed there and slept. You might need to do that for a few nights.

    My 3 silkies sleep on the floor while the other 6 sleep on the roosts. The main reason to keep them out of the nesting boxes is so they don't poop and get the boxes all dirty. You can block the nesting boxes too, so they don't think they can get in there.
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2011
  9. Jun 28, 2011 #5
    lulumammato2

    lulumammato2 Out Of The Brooder

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    I had to completly close off my box for a few weeks then when they were closer to laying I reopened it with a couple ceramic eggs. They used it for the first time last week and have been laying there ever since.... well except when the wind blew the coop door shut and I found an egg in the flower bed. Oh and this weekend I picked up some younger EE's and they decided to sleep in the box last night so this morning I had two broken eggs under their roost:(
     
  11. Jun 29, 2011 #6
    Baxter's Chickens

    Baxter's Chickens Out Of The Brooder

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    Apr 8, 2011
    So funny, last night after getting all of this good feedback, I went out to close the coop door for the night and there they were all four up on the roost!!!
    I think they were looking over my shoulder when I was on the computer![​IMG] Or maybe I just need to trust that they know what they are doing!!!

    Thanks again.
     

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