They keep overturning the nestboxes!

[WhySayWhat]

I have 13 pullets (only 12 are laying, did the "butt check"), they had 4 nest boxes...but, they only use 2 of them and largely ignore the other 2. That is until recently. They started pulling the fake eggs out and "playing soccer" with them! I pulled the fake eggs out and then, they started overturning the 2 unused nest boxes. I out fresh bedding in all the boxes, they dumped the 2 unused boxes that night. I pulled the unused boxes out day before yesterday, they didn't do any good sitting upside down in the middle of the coop anyway. Now...they're overturning the nest box that the majority of them use! What the heck?!? The 4th nest box is attached to the wall, they can't overturn that one, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. What can I do to stop the destruction? I do have another wall mounted nest box to get hung, it's on my "needs to get done today" list. But what the heck are they doing all of the sudden?

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Pictures of your setup would help. All my ladies tend to their nest in different ways...my Blue Orp beds down so deep that she is practically on the bottom of the box, my WTB will horde all the eggs(and golf balls before I took them out) into 1 nest before she lays. Point being they all have a different way when it comes to laying and maybe some of it is learned behavior from the one that initially started it. I would make sure that the boxes are secured in some way to stop the flipping behavior, and realistically with the amount of ladies you have 2 or 3 nest boxes would be plenty.

 

[NatJ]

they started overturning the 2 unused nest boxes.... they dumped the 2 unused boxes that night....they're overturning the nest box that the majority of them use!

I'm guessing they try to sit on the edge of the nestbox, and that makes it tip over.

Chickens like to sit on things in the daytime, which could explain the daytime tipping. Chickens especially like to sleep on top of things at night, usually with some squabblings as they settle who gets to sleep where. So some of them might be trying to sleep on top of the nestboxes, or use nestboxes as a step on the way up to they do sleep, which would explain the nighttime tipping as well.

They started pulling the fake eggs out and "playing soccer" with them!... I out fresh bedding in all the boxes, they dumped the 2 unused boxes that night.

If they were scratching the bedding out of the nestboxes, they might have been trying to scratch around and forage for food. Even when they have plenty of food in the feeder, chickens really like to scratch around and look for new bits to eat. They may also have been trying to see if those fake eggs were good to eat. (Good training: egg-shaped objects are not for eating.)

Now...they're overturning the nest box that the majority of them use! What the heck?!?

You took out the other ones they were overturning, so whatever they had been doing on the ones you removed, they started to do it on the one that was still there.

What can I do to stop the destruction?

I would suggest:
--fasten nestboxes to the wall (this by itself might be enough.)

--watch the chickens as they go to roost at night, to see if they have enough space to all fit on the roosts, and if they can get up easily. If you see something that needs fixing or changing, then do fix it or change it.

--consider putting curtains on the nestbox fronts, or use any other method of making them darker, so it is less fun for the chickens to scratch and forage in them.

--consider adding more things for the chickens to do in the daytime, such as a pile of dry leaves to scratch through (chickens seem to really like scratching through leaves, and at this season they are probably easy to get.)

But what the heck are they doing all of the sudden?

Chickens do weird things

I think they are a bit like children or teenagers: someone thinks of a new idea, and they all start doing it. Pullets do pay more attention to nestboxes around the time they start laying eggs, but they also seem more likely to fly out of the coop and try to sleep in trees at that age. It might be part of normal growing up for them, to just try doing things differently and see what happens.

 

[3KillerBs]

Photos?

My boxes are built-in, but I've noticed that most people who use loose bins either set them in some kind of frame or secure them in some other fashion because light bins flip when the hen sits on the edge.

 

[3KillerBs]

Obviously, they like the wall ones now, Lady jumped in before I could even set the drill down.

They probably felt unsteady in the light boxes that were flipping.

 

[CNJ]

I hate taking up "floor space" with the big tote

They sell these vinyl raise beds at Home Depot or you can put together red wood fence lumber instead.

 

[WhySayWhat]

I’m going to order 2 more of the wall mounted boxes now that they’re actually using them. I added older photos of the boxes they’ve been tossing around. I have security cameras inside and outside the coop, but have no idea what they did to flip them, other than tossing all the hay out and making them too light.

Obviously, they like the wall ones now, Lady jumped in before I could even set the drill down.

 

[3KillerBs]

After all the back and forth the last few days (week?), I think the issues are coming up because the weather has changed drastically and the gals are "bored". Going to add a few "treats" in chicken toys tonight at bed time (they get about 30 minutes of light after the auto door shuts and I go put stragglers inside (and my scissor beak who refuses to go in unless she's carried in). They get about an hour of light before the door opens too, so we shall see if it makes it better or worse! Ha!

Need to add some indoor boredom busters for winter...I'm open to suggestions!

A straw bale with one tie cut is a great fun for the chickens as they tear it apart and spread it around.

 

[WhySayWhat]

Its hard when they can't go out to play. I don't have any predators where I live, so I can let them out in my fenced yard daily. The only thing I can think of is a place to take a dust bath. I see my chickens playing in the dirt at a certain time each day. This might help.

Yeah, their dust bath ended up being a mud pit in all this rain...I have an idea on an "indoor" version for winter using my BIG (150-gallon?) Rubbermaid tote. It was my brooder for 3 chicks and we used it as the chick holder when I cleaned out this group's brooder and to transport them outside. If I take it in (secure it to the wall with similar pieces of scrap) and fill it partially full with play sand, wood ash, and a little DE...I think that'll help. Next Spring, I want to change the coop to a sand bottom instead of the wood chips. We just had a LOT of wood chips and I wasn't going to toss them out.

I hate taking up "floor space" with the big tote, but I wasn't planning on the run being so leaky...will have to work on that in the Spring when things dry out!

 

[WhySayWhat]

They sell these vinyl raise beds at Home Depot or you can put together red wood fence lumber instead.View attachment 2897562View attachment 2897563View attachment 2897564

I keep forgetting I have one of these cedar raised bed kits. I bought it to put in a few years ago, but the lose neighbor cats turn any garden I make into a litter box, so I never set it up.