Sleeping in nest boxes & coop advice

[Scottish-Hen]

ive just been going through the learning centre and come across something saying not to let the hens sleep in the nest boxes. My girls (of different breeds) have always slept in the nest boxes whilst the boys use the perch.... Any reason why they shouldn't? The new chicks are sleeping under mama still in the nest box (for the first clutch that are in the outside nursery run but the do use the perches at some point as I can tell from the droppings. How do I prevent the new chicks from sleeping in the nest boxes (saying that there isn't enough for them all!!),

We are going to buy a shed and convert it to a much bigger coop to accommodate all the birds so it would be good to get advice on how to stop this happening in the new coop.

(Talking of the new coop, is it worth leaving the old coop too or just moving everyone to the new coop? We only have a run on the nursery coop for the safety of the chicks - otherwise our birds are totally free range round the garden. Should we be building a run onto the new coop too?)

 

[Ridgerunner]

The reason you don’t want chickens sleeping in the nests is that they poop a lot when sleeping. Who wants poopy eggs?

In your new coop build plenty of roosts, more than you think you need, and put them higher than the nests. Chickens normally like to sleep on the highest place available but normally doesn’t mean always. When the roosts are crowded the stronger may pick on the weaker so the weaker find a safer place to sleep.

It’s always good to have a spare place to put chickens if you need to. It just adds a lot to your flexibility in handling problems. As long as I reasonably could, I’d keep the old one.

Do you absolutely have to have a run with your new coop? Not really but it adds a lot to your flexibility in dealing with problems. For example, when you move them to the new coop, will it be big enough to leave them locked in there for several days so they feel the new coop is home and won’t go back to the old coop to sleep? A run makes doing that easier.

 

[Scottish-Hen]

The reason you don’t want chickens sleeping in the nests is that they poop a lot when sleeping. Who wants poopy eggs?

In your new coop build plenty of roosts, more than you think you need, and put them higher than the nests. Chickens normally like to sleep on the highest place available but normally doesn’t mean always. When the roosts are crowded the stronger may pick on the weaker so the weaker find a safer place to sleep.

It’s always good to have a spare place to put chickens if you need to. It just adds a lot to your flexibility in handling problems. As long as I reasonably could, I’d keep the old one.

Do you absolutely have to have a run with your new coop? Not really but it adds a lot to your flexibility in dealing with problems. For example, when you move them to the new coop, will it be big enough to leave them locked in there for several days so they feel the new coop is home and won’t go back to the old coop to sleep? A run makes doing that easier.

Our thoughts on a run are
A) it stops other birds making off with their treats... The wild birds have their treats hanging high.
B) it keeps the together in winter ... Hate it when they leave the coop then we get a dump of snow, they try to find somewhere warm and generally freeze overnight. It's happened a couple of times a few years ago before we just kept them shut in the coop if there was a chance of snow, but that's not fair. A run gives them outside play and Us Peace of mind.
C) it allows us to treat the grass (we are rural and you could barely call what we have grass!!). We want to get it all cut, treated and new grass seed down - I couldn't forgive myself if the birds were poisoned due to the treatments (we've found one that is pet ( cat/dog & poultry safe after 48 hours - I'd leave it another day though!)
D) it allows us, like you say, to get them used to the new coop - which is now not a new shed but we are going to convert our summer house! We don't use it, and with some work it would be an amazing coop!! We thought about the size issue of leaving them in for a few days after you said it and that just sprung to mind!
E) it handy when we go away on holiday... My mum/dad come down feed/water/collect eggs but they always worry that some are missing... It's extra peace of mind.

This run will be about 7 feet high by 15 wide and 25 long at least! (Is there a way to calculate the size of space a run should be for the amount of chickens?)

I hadn't thought about the old one for use in that way.... Once the new coop is up and running I'll give it its usual yearly total and utter scrub down and repair (be fun doing that from a wheelchair this year!! Then I'll close it off and use it as an isolation coop. Then we've got the new coop with run underneath that's our 'outdoor nursery coop' for when we move the chicks outside.

Ridgerunner you've been so helpful in helping us to think outside the box (or should that be coop!) to consider different options for the birds to make it the best possible environment we can !

Cheers!!!!!