Seventeen week old pullet sleeping in best box

[Three Little Bunnies]

Hi!

My seventeen week old (approximately) ISA Brown(??) pullet has been sleeping in the best boxes. Her sister Jenny sleeps on the roost, but I think Dorothy’s wings are too big for her to get up there. Since she is getting close to laying, I don’t want to block the nest boxes. What should I do?

Thanks!

 

[azygous]

You can block the nest boxes off at night. Hens almost never lay eggs at night.

But something is happening to make this pullet want to sleep in the nest instead of roosting. It would be helpful if you watched them at roosting time to see what is happening when this pullet tries to find room on the perch.

If there is not a good eighteen inches of open space for her to fly up, she could be knocking her mates around as she tries to get up there, and they retaliate by pecking and knocking her around. Not wanting to get beat up, she opts for the nest.

If space isn't the problem, personality conflicts may be. I've stapled a feed sack over the perch in my coop so my three young pullets are partitioned off from the older chickens that are less than welcoming. I enforce the off limits of this space with a fly swatter when an older chicken tries to co-opt it. This works well in my flock.

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

You can block the nest boxes off at night. Hens almost never lay eggs at night.

But something is happening to make this pullet want to sleep in the nest instead of roosting. It would be helpful if you watched them at roosting time to see what is happening when this pullet tries to find room on the perch.

If there is not a good eighteen inches of open space for her to fly up, she could be knocking her mates around as she tries to get up there, and they retaliate by pecking and knocking her around. Not wanting to get beat up, she opts for the nest.

If space isn't the problem, personality conflicts may be. I've stapled a feed sack over the perch in my coop so my three young pullets are partitioned off from the older chickens that are less than welcoming. I enforce the off limits of this space with a fly swatter when an older chicken tries to co-opt it. This works well in my flock.

Thank you! Her only companion is a bantam Cochin pullet. She doesn’t take up much space, and she seems to be the less dominant girl. I think Dorothy just can’t get to the roost.

 

[aart]

I think Dorothy just can’t get to the roost.

Pics of inside coop showing the roost?
Agrees, block the nest an hour before roost time, open it back up when you lock up after dark.