Suddenly sleeping in nest box

[Leigti]

I have 11 chickens. Suddenly, up to four of them have started sleeping in in the nest boxes. Anywhere from 1 to 4 will be in there at night. Not always the same ones. What could make them suddenly change this behavior? They used to all be on the roost.

 

[Crooked Chicken]

Can you tell us a little about your coop? Things like coop size, ventilation, is it drafty? Do your chickens appear to be healthy? Is there any pine chips, straw or anything on the floor?

Could it be that they are trying to get out of a drafty area, or perhaps late-in-the-day laying?

 

[Leigti]

The coop is 8 x 4‘ raised. The nest boxes are on one end. There is a 4 x 4 poop board 15 inches above the floor, with 3 4 foot long roosts above it. Pine shavings on the floor and in the nest boxes. They free roam in the yard all day.
It seems to have started when a couple of the birds were molting. But I figured once they quit molting and they would all be happy together again. Wrong.
I thought about putting up temporary roost and trying to block the nests off at night. Would that work?

 

[Leigti]

There are two large windows on the side and one on the end above the nest boxes. The large window next to the roost is closed now. The window above the nest box is open. And the other window on the side is open about a quarter of the way. I’m sorry I can’t figure out how to post pictures.
I haven’t gotten any eggs in two weeks. My chickens range in age from about nine months old to almost 4 years old. I do not have any light or heat in the coop.

 

[RUNuts]

All the roosts the same height? How is the headroom?

I've got 18 birds in a 4'x8' coop with 2 8' long roosts. A little less than 1 foot per bird. Have a 4' lower perch as a ladder than occasionally one will sleep on, but seldom.

Since you have 12' of roost for 11 birds, as long as they share, you should be good. I had a couple of the lower ranking birds sleeping in the nest boxes. I'd kick them out and block them off for 2 weeks and now everyone sleeps on the roost.

Tell everyone to play nice.

 

[Crooked Chicken]

Well, the coop sounds good for your number of birds.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but sounds like the roost is across from the nest boxes and the open window? If so, they may be getting a draft when on the roost. You might try closing the window partially. Do you have other vents besides the windows? If your only ventilation is via the windows, then you wouldn't want to close them entirely.

You could try temporarily blocking the nest boxes during the evening.

 

[Olivekat07]

My chickens starting doing that until my dad, my mom, and I built a new coop. We had 7 chickens, one was sleeping on top of the coop, and 3 were sleeping on the nest boxes.

 

[Leigti]

All the roofs are on the same level. They have about 15 inches above their head for headroom. There is a lots of insulation, all the way around the top of the coop as well as a 1‘ x 8‘ strip on the top back wall of the coop. The window that is across from the roost on the end is a kind that opens from the bottom so it sticks out a little bit, wind and rain does not get into it. I guess I have a weekend project on my hands.

 

[Olivekat07]

Sounds like my old one.

 

[ShiftyShickens]

has the temp been dropping in your area? sometimes my girls will huddle together on cold nights down in the straw, but only on the windiest of winter nights.