To lay or just to poop?

[Missusg]

So my chickens aren't laying yet. I'm theorizing that, the house part of the coop is now too small, the two nesting boxes (part of the tiny house) are being slept in (we have 4 chickens) and pooped in!

Have had fake eggs in there for the longest time and now THEY are just getting pooped on!

Any suggestions? New nesting boxes elsewhere? Different feed? We still use chick starter supplemented with a scratch mix and various veggies (both scraps and whole heads of lettuce).

Thanks!

-Karen

P.S. lemme know if/what kind of pictures would be helpful.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Do you have roosts???

 

[imnukensc]

Pictures of the inside, outside, and dimensions (LXWXH) of the coop would be helpful. And how old and what kind are your chickens?

 

[JedJackson]

So my chickens aren't laying yet. I'm theorizing that, the house part of the coop is now too small, the two nesting boxes (part of the tiny house) are being slept in (we have 4 chickens) and pooped in!

Have had fake eggs in there for the longest time and now THEY are just getting pooped on!

Any suggestions? New nesting boxes elsewhere? Different feed? We still use chick starter supplemented with a scratch mix and various veggies (both scraps and whole heads of lettuce).

Thanks!

-Karen

P.S. lemme know if/what kind of pictures would be helpful.

Are they sleeping in the nest boxes? If so, that needs to be corrected by either moving the nest boxes or making roosts that they will use that are away from the nest boxes.

If they are just going in the boxes in the day time, then they are probably bored. If you don't have a run, then it's a good idea to make one so they have outside time. If you do have a run, but they still go to the nest boxes, maybe get some chicken toys or put some branches in the run to keep them from being bored. A cabbage suspended from the ceiling just out of reach will keep chickens occupied for hours, sometimes days.

 

[EggWalrus]

How old are they? Do they have ROOSTS well ABOVE the nest boxes? If you only have 4 birds, you have more than plenty nests boxes. I suspect that someone is sleeping and pooping in the nests. Try blocking the nests with a couple of gallon jugs of water at night so they can't get in the nests to sleep/poop . That way they have to get UP ON THE ROOSTS ABOVE THE NESTS to do their sleep pooping (as opposed to sleep walking/nest pooping ).
You'll get it figured out.

 

[EggWalrus]

Are they sleeping in the nest boxes? If so, that needs to be corrected by either moving the nest boxes or making roosts that they will use that are away from the nest boxes.

If they are just going in the boxes in the day time, then they are probably bored. If you don't have a run, then it's a good idea to make one so they have outside time. If you do have a run, but they still go to the nest boxes, maybe get some chicken toys or put some branches in the run to keep them from being bored. A cabbage suspended from the ceiling just out of reach will keep chickens occupied for hours, sometimes days.

The good old cabbage piñata for them to play with and eat! First time I put one out it took them 3 days to finish it. Now they can devour one in a day.
They love it!

 

[JedJackson]

The good old cabbage piñata for them to play with and eat! First time I put one out it took them 3 days to finish it. Now they can devour one in a day.
They love it!

Yep, mine absolutely love it. Sometimes when I put one in their coop they act like they're above cabbage hopping, but 20 minutes later they'll be going bonkers over it.

 

[EggWalrus]

Yep, mine absolutely love it. Sometimes when I put one in their coop they act like they're above cabbage hopping, but 20 minutes later they'll be going bonkers over it.

I used to think I had to hang the cabbage piñata head level for them to get it. But when I hang it about 6 to 8 inches above them, they still tear it up. Cabbage is good for them as a treat about once a week, and even better exercise.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Photos of interior plus measurements of coop would be helpful. In the meantime, since they're not laying, block off the nest boxes - they don't need access to them yet.

 

[New2Chicks97]

So here’s my nesting box saga.....

Our prefab coop kit is decently sized. The coop itself is probably 5 x 6 with an attached covered run that is 5 x 5. In theory a good size considering that all they do is sleep in the coop part as they have a large attached run that is 11 x 30 accessible all day and they free range 4-6 hours.

The problem was that one of the roosts was placed lower than the nesting areas inside the coop. Our girls decided that they would rather sleep on the nesting area than the lower roost. So I reconfigured and raised the roosts but still they insisted on sleeping there.

I converted the small covered outside part of the run to be part of their coop and put in a set of galvanized nesting boxes. Then I made them some outdoor nesting places in some leftover hay bales from last year in their big run. My EE love to lay eggs in haystacks.

So rather than fight them I adapted what I had to work with their little quirks.

We are in the process of converting a shed to be their new him so now I know how to avoid nesting box issues with my group. Given higher & wider roosts and they are happy to use the nesting boxes for just laying.