what age do chicken's start sleeping in there nesting boxes

[Jens8chicks]

I have 8 chick's 2 Buff Orphantins 12wks, 2 barret Rock 11wks, 2 Rhode Island Red 10wks, White Leghorns 10wks. My chicks are very good at putting themselfs to bed at night but they all crowed into one corner of there hen house and leave the nesting boxes empty. I have tried to place them into them on several occastions but they fly out before i can finish putting all of them into a nasting box. Will they do this also on there own or should i continue to try and introduce them to my chicks?
Here is a pic i took of the nesting boxes when we were completing the hen house. There are two more buckets you cant see in pic. Any advice will be helpful.

 

[AimeeJohn47]

Hi I have 6 bantams that still do that! They are over a year old and are all good little egg layers, however they still occasionally lay on top of each other at night. As for the nesting boxes, my ladies lay eggs all over the coop and occasionally in a nesting box. We just bought a brand new coop with 6 nesting boxes and I have yet to find an egg in the boxes. Instead this is what I found on top of the nesting box today! I stopped worrying about them and am just happy that they seem happy and are laying!

 

[barbiegirl]

Nesting boxes aren't for sleeping in. They are for laying eggs in. You can put plastic easter eggs in the nesting boxes to give your chickens the idea to lay an egg in there. At 11 and 10 weeks old, they aren't ready to lay yet.

 

[mortie]

You want a roost for them to sleep on, not in the nesting boxes. An ideal roost is a 2x4 turned wide side up. You will want your roost to be higher than your nest boxes, or as your flock gets the desire to roost, they will sleep in the next boxes. You want to avoid sleeping in the next boxes because chickens poop where they sleep and that will lead to poopy eggs...which no one likes!

 

[barbiegirl]

It looks like the nesting boxes are empty. Do you have any bedding, like wood chips in them? You will want bedding in there so when the girls start to lay the eggs will not get broken from hitting a hard bottom.

 

[Renee572]

Sorry to steal the post mortie... I have a 2×4 as a roost but I do not have it wide side up. My hens have been using it for about 2 months now and they seem fine with it but do you think I should put the wide side up?

Anyway to add to the op, the nesting boxes are not for sleeping in as has already been said and I have found with my 5 hens even on the roost they all crowd together on the same end.

 

[mortie]

It is easier for them to maneuver when they are settling down on the roost if it is wider and in the winter they can sit on their feet better on a wide roost to keep their toes warm.