I had two RIR hens, they never poop in the nest boxes. I acquired two additional hens and the nests are now full of poo. I don't know who's doing it ( I suspect the new ladies) and how do I get them to stop. I mean the nest is full of poo, not just a little dropping or two.
Sounds to me like they're roosting in the nest boxes. Are the nest boxes open or enclosed with a single opening?
Sounds like the new ones are sleeping in it too. Kick them out at night if that is the case and they may get the hang of it.
I had this problem when new chickens were added and realized that they were being kicked off of the roost and they had to sleep in the nesting boxes where they pooped. After many months, I've finally gotten them to sleep on the roost so that the boxes stay clean. An idea that worked for me: Every night I placed a plastic milk container in the nest boxes and I remove it very first thing in the morning. If you do this for about a week, the habit seems to be broken. I also had a problem with them laying eggs in the coop, but not in the nesting boxes, so every morning for about 2 weeks I placed a big board on the coop floor. Again they broke the habit and now they're laying in the CLEAN nesting boxes. Of course I've had a few mishaps ... but basically kicked the habit.
Thanks for the quick responses. The nest boxes are open, but separate from the roosting area. I guess I just assumed that since there is plenty of roosting space they would all use it. I never thought about them being kicked off the roost. They all seem to get along well. Do chickens get territorial? When I was a kid we raised chickens and I spent lots of time with them, but we had so many (75-100) I never noticed issues like that. I've never dealt with them in such a small number (4)
They do ostracize new members of the flock to put them in their places, as it were. The new ones are just trying not to get hassled, most likely.
