sleeping in nest box

[DickMidnight]

the last two nights, i’ve gone out to check on my new hens and move them off of the top of the nesting boxes and on to the roost bars.

both nights, i’ve noticed one of my older hens (about a year old) sleeping in one of the nest boxes. so when i moved the young hens, i moved her as well.

she’s not injured. i watched her run around with everyone else today. she’s laying eggs as well.

i don’t know how long she’s been doing this.

i’m thinking of putting another roost bar over the top of the (covered) nest boxes to see if the 3 young chicks and this older one will sleep there instead of on top/in the nest boxes.

any other ideas? i really don’t want to block the boxes every night and uncover them every morning. that seems like a pain in the ass.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I know it's a pain, but might want to try blocking them off each night for a couple of weeks to see if that resets her to roosting normally again. With some bad habits, as long as they get some consistent correction (aka no option of sleeping in there) it'll fix itself.

 

[3KillerBs]

Is she molting?

I've noticed that some of my ladies who are molting want to sleep in the nests -- out of the way of the pushing and shoving on the roosts, I suppose?