Sleeping in nesting box

[Julieugar]

Is the new roost as close to the ceiling as it looks to me? They might be having trouble getting balanced on it without hitting the ceiling when they jump up. If that happens a couple times they may just say forget it and head to the boxes (which are at the same height as the old roosts).

I know it’s a bit of work, but if youre still bothered by this, can you take out the old and new roosts and install one at half the height? Should be high enough to make it tempting, but low enough they can get on it easily.

Did you find a solution? My chicks are 12 weeks and doing the same thing. I also have the same

 

[Julieugar]

I ended up blocking the nesting boxes at night. I did this consistently, for a few weeks. And they slept on the roost. But every once in awhile, I’ll catch them back in the nesting boxes, so I am now back to blocking the boxes every night. I remove them in the morning. I use post office mailing boxes. Pictures attached.

Because my chickens were older when we went through this process, I removed the boxes in the morning and put wooden eggs in the boxes to show them where their eggs go. It worked, they caught in no problem. I was advised to do this when they are close to laying age, around 20 weeks.

Because you have the same coop as me, I’ll mention some other retro fits I did to make the coop more cozy and dark. I noticed that most of the corners and where the walls meet the roof, there was a ton of light shining through. I glued or nailed narrow strips of wood various places to block light. I put landscaping fabric over the open panes window so the chickens can’t see out. All of those tweaks helped a lot!

I also fashioned a top to the boxes. I did this because I installed a roost made out of a tree branch that sits up high above the poop tray. I got the feeling that the roosting bars placed right on top of the poop trays were a faulty design. They do not have a hard time getting up on that bar/ branch. It’s very cute they hop on up and huddle together.

My 3 chickens are free range, and I really did not want them to lay eggs elsewhere on our property. Do my goal was to make their coop really appealing for them so it would become their home base. And now that they are laying, each one heads back there to lay their eggs. So I’m turn it makes me feel more secure that they are staying closer to home. We live in the country and they can go pretty far into neighbors properties. They stay closer now.

If I could go back to the 12 week age, I’d block the nesting boxes at that point for sure. It’s a harder habit to break as they get older.

I was worried all this stress would disrupt impending egg laying, but it worked out just fine. All 3 of my chickens are 26 weeks and all laying just fine in their boxes.

I’m happy to answer any other questions on the retro fit of the coop if you are curious.

Best of luck!