When to intervene

[Kfults]

i have 7 week old chicks with a super attentive momma..... they are fully feathered and about half momma size. (Different breed)
They are still sleeping all together in a nesting box. The temps are pretty mild and they don’t sleep under her anymore ( they are too big). I am wondering when she will teach them to roost?? I thought maybe I would give her a hand and last night I moved mom and babies to lower roost together. I watched on my camera and they were all jockeying for a place right next to her and then some fell off roost. She took them all back to the nest. I don’t want them to get “used” to sleeping in a nest. I could block the nest boxes but I have another momma with a 3 week baby who isn’t completely feathered.
Advice appreciated! Thank you

 

[azygous]

I've had this same problem in the past. Some of my hens will sleep in the nest box whenever they think they can get away with it. So when they become broody mamas, they tend to linger in the nest because they think they can get away with it even though they should be teaching the chicks to roost.

So I close down the nest, and they are all forced to roost. This predicament is one reason why it's a good idea to have a separate place in the coop for a broody and chicks. When I block off the broody nest, it's not blocking any other hens from getting to a nest.

I don't know the layout of your coop, but the idea is to shut down the nest so the broody and chicks can't continue to use it. Somehow you need to block it off until they get settled on the perch. Once up there, they are far less likely to return to the nest. But hang around for a bit just in case.

This may seem like a big headache, but the hen and chicks usually get used to sleeping on the perch in just a couple nights.

 

[Kfults]

I've had this same problem in the past. Some of my hens will sleep in the nest box whenever they think they can get away with it. So when they become broody mamas, they tend to linger in the nest because they think they can get away with it even though they should be teaching the chicks to roost.

So I close down the nest, and they are all forced to roost. This predicament is one reason why it's a good idea to have a separate place in the coop for a broody and chicks. When I block off the broody nest, it's not blocking any other hens from getting to a nest.

I don't know the layout of your coop, but the idea is to shut down the nest so the broody and chicks can't continue to use it. Somehow you need to block it off until they get settled on the perch. Once up there, they are far less likely to return to the nest. But hang around for a bit just in case.

This may seem like a big headache, but the hen and chicks usually get used to sleeping on the perch in just a couple nights.

Problem, I have is that some of my girls lay eggs at the crack of dawn, hoping they will wait until I can come out and unblock the nests. Tomorrow I will be blocking the nests and forcing all to roost somewhere. They were in their broody cages and nesting and moved to the laying boxes. I thought it was because the temps were pretty cold and Momma was moving off the floor....

 

[azygous]

I think you can unblock the nests after you place the broody and the chicks on the perch and you are satisfied they'll settle down for the night. That way the nests will be available at dawn.

When I place chicks on the perch for the first couple times, they may be upset. For this reason, I squish all the chicks up close to one another, with a chick on each side of the broody. Holding your hand on the chicks heads, in turn, with a slight downward pressure, will calm them and lowering their heads gets them in a sleep mood.

If it's a circus and some of the chicks keep hopping off the nest no matter what you do, put those chicks close against the broody. These will try to get under her on the perch. Let them do that.

It shouldn't require more than a couple nights of this effort and they'll all be content to roost.

 

[aart]

Answered here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/when-to-intervene.1291826/