What's the problem with hens sleeping in the nesting box?

[IamRainey]

Is it just that you want to keep the nesting box clean? Is there something about it that's a bigger problem?

I have one hen who just wants to sleep in the nesting box next to the roosts. There's room on the roosts but she's a shy Orpington and she just seems to like the nesting box.

I can't be out there every night trying to break her of the habit. It's probably too well established now anyway. I collect her poop every morning and toss it out into the deep litter. The hens never use that box for laying anyway -- they have 2 others. Is this a problem I need to solve or just choice I can live with?

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

I’d say it’s personally up to you, my Silkies don’t have roosts because they don’t use them. Some sleep in the main body of the coop whereas some sleep in the nest boxes.

My birds don’t really make any mess in them so it doesn’t bother me. However, if non of your chickens lay in there anyways then there isn’t really any risk of getting poopy eggs.

The only thing I could see it doing is potentially increasing her chances of being broody and more likely to end up with mites gathering in that area.

I’d just add some extra mite power in the bedding where she sleeps to stop the warmth attracting anything unwanted.

Personally, I see no issue if she’s determined to sit on the bottom out of the way of the others. Just be ready if she does go broody to give her eggs or break her

 

[Isaac 0]

How high is the nesting box compared to the roost?

 

[IamRainey]

Seems to me when I get the occasional poopy egg it's smeared fresh poo like leaking of some sort that happens as they egg exits rather than a bolus of existing poo the egg gets dropped or rolls into.

 

[IamRainey]

How high is the nesting box compared to the roost?

The nesting box is on the floor of the coop extending out into the exterior. Probably a mistake but too late now to do much about that.

The roosts are right above it and off at an angle. Here are a couple pix (sorry for the quality of the photography and deep shade). The first is the coop with the nesting boxes behind the dark cloth on the left. The second is the nesting box in question. Perhaps you can see just the edge of the lower roost just above center frame beyond the dark cloth.

pa

 

[chickens really]

I honestly don't care where my birds choose to sleep. As long as they are happy with each other and the Coop, I don't care.

 

[IamRainey]

I honestly don't care where my birds choose to sleep. As long as they are happy with each other and the Coop, I don't care.

That's my inclination too, chickens really. I just need to know if I'm overlooking something that's a genuine problem and should be attended to.

 

[Henry&Friends]

The poop. I hate it when I go to grab eggs and wind up with two eggs and a fist full of crap in the morning I also worry about eggs being broken by sleepy hens. Mostly, though, I move birds out of the nest and onto the roosts so I can count them easier.

 

[chickens really]

That's my inclination too, chickens really. I just need to know if I'm overlooking something that's a genuine problem and should be attended to.

Totally up to you. I don't get poop covered eggs and I don't get broken eggs either.

 

[IamRainey]

The poop. I hate it when I go to grab eggs and wind up with two eggs and a fist full of crap in the morning I also worry about eggs being broken by sleepy hens. Mostly, though, I move birds out of the nest and onto the roosts so I can count them easier.

Can't say that's been any kind of problem. By the time I'm collecting eggs the hens are usually done with the nesting boxes and I can see what I'm reaching for. Or, if someone's still laying, I let them finish and go back later.

My nesting boxes are on the exterior of the coop with a top-lifting lid. The top-lifting thing is sorta a PITA. Sometimes I'm balancing it on my head while my arms are reaching in for eggs but at least I can see very clearly what's going on in there.

I can also see my Orp's poo. I just pick it up with a bit of the shavings around it and fling it back into the deep litter. No particular issue when it's well formed and already dried out a bit.