Sleeping in nesting boxes

[Abigail Rosette]

Some of my girls like to sleep in there nesting boxes, which results in poop in the nesting area and therefore on the eggs. any suggestions to get them to realize that's not their bed??

 

[DobieLover]

Some of my girls like to sleep in there nesting boxes, which results in poop in the nesting area and therefore on the eggs. any suggestions to get them to realize that's not their bed??

Are their roosts higher than the nest boxes?
How many birds do you have and how many linear feet of roosting do you have?
Can you post pictures?

 

[swamphiker]

@DobieLover has it right, you can keep most chickens from roosting in the nesting boxes by making sure you have enough roosting bars higher up than the boxes.

Despite having plenty of good, high roosts, we had one hen sleep in the boxes for awhile. It was likely because she was rejoining the flock from an injury and was lowest in the pecking order. What worked was to go out to the coop in the late afternoon (after everyone had laid their eggs but before roosting time) and block of the nesting boxes with wood boards. After a few nights she got the idea and now is back to roosting where she should.

 

[Wendy Bee]

We have a relatively new flock, 10 pushing 1 yr old, and 6 more pushing just 7 months old.

Off and on I've had one or two snuggle down in a nesting box. I just made it a habit to go out to the coop around roosting time and wait for them to settle in, and then gently nudge them out of the box(es) until they hopped up on the roosts. Once in a while I'd need to put a younger hen up on the roost - they were a little scared of the older hens, lol.

This in the dead of winter (it gets pretty cold here), so I really did want them snuggling together for warmth and not braving the cold alone in a cold box!

They got the idea after a while .

 

[Sally PB]

I had to block off the nest boxes for awhile when I integrated my littles in with the adults. It took a couple weeks to fully break everyone. It was a ten second addition to open up/lock up time, so no big deal for me.

 

[smdcleland]

I'm having a similar issue. My youngest girl, who is also lowest in the pecking order, sometimes sleeps in the nesting box. Not always though. When I check them at night and lock them up, if she is in the box, I put her on the roosting bar, but she hops back off and goes back into the box. Like I said, it's not every night, but I do worry that maybe she is being picked on.