sleeping on poop board

[blueberrychickens]

So my chickens are crazy I am convinced of this fact. They all try to get in the same corner of the roost & some of them will even try to sleep on the poop board under their buddies. Why do they do this & is there any way to stop them from snoozing on the poop board?? They have plenty of roost space too, so I'm completely baffled

Anyone else have silly chickens that do this?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

How old are your chickens?

 

[blueberrychickens]

almost 12 weeks old...

 

[stevin]

ha! it must be a massachusetts thing because i've got 3 16wk old pullets that do the same exact thing. they'll sleep on the roosts but they'll go up there during the day to just hangout and they'll lay on the poop board. i was thinking of raising the poop board. right now the board is roughly 9" lower than the roost allowing them plenty of room to get comfortable. so by eliminating that extra space below maybe that will discourage them from laying there......maybe....
it's all about trial & error...

 

[dawnchick]

They're young and learning. Some don't roost at all til they're older. Mine sleep in 3 or 4 different places.

You can try putting them on the roost every night from wherever they are; this works more often than you'd think. You might end up having to make the poop board inaccessible to them, somehow.

They will scrunch up together and will also fight (peck, shove, etc.) for the "best" spot.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
If that doesn't work, you could try moving the poop board lower, thus making it less attractive as a roosting spot.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have some that sleep under the roost bar on the shavings, and older ones that are roosting. I'm going to just wait with my birds, to see if they outgrow it.

 

[spottedtail]

Use 2" x 4" wire mesh as a barrier to make the dropping board inaccessible.

spot

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
Many of mine crowd together on one side or the other of the roost, despite ample space for each of them to have their own "elbow room". I don't know why they do it. I think the ones who end up on the droppings board get nudged off the roost by the higher-ups in the pecking order and just really don't have it in them to fight their way back up again.

Some sleep on the floor, huddled together. They're funny little critters!

 

[blueberrychickens]

Yay!! Tonight everyone was up on their roosts where they belong, not on the poop board!