What do you think of the Roosting situation ???

[elmo]

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Most chickens like most other birds instinctively prefer to roost as high as they can for safety from predators. If they have no way to roost up off the floor, they'll have to live with that, but I tend to think that it stresses them.

The other issue is clean up for you. When a chicken is roosting over a droppings board or tray, it's very easy to collect and remove the nighttime droppings. If they're sleeping in the shavings and pooping right there where they're sleeping, that's not as easy for the chickenkeeper to manage. You wouldn't want them sleeping night after night right in their own droppings. And you surely don't want them sleeping and pooping in the nest boxes because the eggs will become soiled.

How old are your birds? Are they laying yet?

 

[anitalogan]

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Sorry to sat that I don't know how old they are as I bought them from an unreliable source: the uncle of a co-worker who has a small flock of various poultry. They have been laying eggs regularly, usually 1 per day per hen. Yes, we do clean up their nesting area frequently, but they don't seem to poop in the nesting area, just off to the side. I am worried now that they are being stressed and I didn't know it.
Honestly there is no way to put a roost in the coop proper but we could put one in the enclosed run. Since I am in NC, it will soon be very hot and they might enjoy being outside rather than in their small coop. I don't know.