Sleeping in the layer/nesting box!

[lescostes]

i am new here and have had chickens for 6 days....please explain to me the different in a roost and a nesting box. i have 3 boxes with straw in the corner of the coop and they all sleep in there, i clean out the poop every morning, but it's not tons.

 

[Dawn419]

Quote:
Here ya go:

2" by 4" roosts on the left side and nesting box on the floor in the lower right hand side of the picture...

They should use the roosts for roosting/sleeping and the nest box/es for laying eggs only. If the nest boxes are the same height as the roost, they may decide to "roost" in the nest box/es instead.

Hope this helps!


Dawn

 

[lescostes]

ah....makes sense now...thanks!
would a shelf be used as a roost or should i be thin so it's more of a perch? My chickens sleep huddled together in their nesting boxes which are on the floor, they look just like yours. We have an l-shaped shelf on the other side of the shed (i'm using an old shed as their coop). Do you think we need to get 2x4's or something for them to roost on or maybe they just have no interest in roosting high? They are french chickens!

Also, what do you have on the floor of the coop? Right now I have nothing, just wood floor of the shed...was thinking about throwing down a bunch of straw????

 

[Opa]

I think it would be better if you used pine shavings on the floor rather than straw. Much easier to clean up.

 

[Anny]

thanks for this post mine are doing the same thing right now too this was very helpful to read.

 

[Splash_Guard]

Mine pile in 3-4 in each nesting box; reminds me of cramming too many people into a Volkswagon. It's a mess, yes, but I let them sleep where ever they want to sleep. There's plenty of roosting space, they just like the closeness/warmth?

 

[lescostes]

pine shavins. not sure where to find these in france, where would you find them in the states?

 

[Mrs MIA]

Any feed store or pet store will have the shavings. If your temps get below freezing, 2x4's work the best for roosts, as it gives them a nice big flat surface to sit on and keep their feet tucked under their feathers for warmth. Also, roosts/perches should be higher than the nestboxes, because chickens like to roost up high. They will poop in the nest boxes, as you have found out, and it's easier to keep them (and the eggs) clean if the boxes are lower.

What's it like in France right now? ooh la la!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Are yours laying yet? Once they are the last place you'll want them to sleep is the nest boxes. All the eggs will be a mess! I did all the right things - roosts higher than the nest boxes, plenty of roost space - and I still had two hens that insisted on sleeping in the nest boxes.
It took me two weeks or more to break the habit. I'd go out there after dark with a penlight (enough light for me to see, but not them) and move the two hens to a roost. Finally broke them! Now my nest boxes stay nice and clean.
They cuddle together just fine on the roosts.

 

[lescostes]

We don't have pet stores here in rural france. Crazy, but true. I'll have to ask around, there are some feed stores, but I have never seen pine shavings there. It also might be something france doesn't have (i have a huge list).

We will get some 2x4's in a few days and put them up....I think I'm going to have to go out at night with a light and move them, maybe not, but i think.

we just got our first egg today!!!!! I was so excited. It was ferlizlied though, wasn't sure if we could/should eat a ferlizlied egg, so we didn't.