Sleeping in the nesting boxes....

[bryan8]

Well sence my ten sex-links were about 7 weeks, they have been sleeping in the nesting boxes....

How can I brake them from them so that they dont still sleep in them? There getting very dirt and hard to clean.

I dont want them to start laying else where though

~Bryan

 

[wombat]

Close off the nesting boxes until they are closer to laying age.

Make sure the nesting boxes are a lot lower than the roosts.

 

[Olive Hill]

Where they sleep has little to do with where they lay so encouraging them to sleep elsewhere shouldn't make a difference in their laying preferences.

Do you have a roost available for them, placed higher than the boxes?

 

[bryan8]

There all laying...

Forgot to mention that. Ther 20 weeks old

 

[wombat]

Sorry, mis-read your post, thought they were 7 weeks now.

Make sure the nesting boxes are lower than the roosts still holds, though.

 

[bryan8]

ok well they have a small 6x6 area that they can hangout in with nesting boxes on the sides. Then it opens up to a larger like 10x10 room with high roosts. But they like the small area.

Ill get pics tmw to show you better

 

[kikster]

Hmmm, I wonder the same thing. My nesting boxes are lower than my roosts, yet I still always have a couple of hens (usually bantam) that insist on sleeping in them. They still lay in them though, but it does get poopy

 

[Big C]

We close our nest boxes at a couple hrs before roost time when collecting for the day.
Eventually they will all learn where to lay and roost at.

 

[gritsar]

If you've planned ahead and made your roosts higher than your nestboxes and still have hens roosting in the nestboxes, it's time for some re-training.
You'll need to go in to the coop each night after dark and move them to the roosts. It's best to use the smallest amount of light you can while you do this; I use a penlight. Just enough light to see by, but not enough light that the chickens will feel comfortable about getting up and moving around.
You have to do this every night for about a week and be consistent about it. They'll get the message.

 

[Booswalia]

Quote:
That's what I did for about 5 days in a row and now they are all roosting where they should be. They didn't really like me moving them because it was a tight fit for all three of them in one nesting box but it worked and I'm glad. I didn't like trying to move them when they would hang on with their toes and flap. Too stressful for me and them. Phew... moving on to egg laying now.