Where should they sleep?

[Toby96]

I have 3 Rhode Island Reds and I have blocked off the nesting box as they are not yet laying so they do not sleep there, i have perches but they never sleep on them, is this ok?

 

[Judy]

How old are they? What kind of chickens? What are your roosts made of?

You may have to put them on the roosts for a few nights til they learn to sleep there. If they are young, like a month, you will want to give them some more time to learn.

 

[farmerkim]

All my girls sleep in a pile on the coop floor. They are 8-12 weeks old. They sit on their roost during the day for naps but not at night.

 

[lux_interior]

Mine are 2 months, they sleep on their roosts at night.... I have the next boxes open, and I know they don't sleep, or even go in there, cause I've never found any poop in there!

 

[Toby96]

They're about 23 weeks old, not laying yet. They are still sleeping in the nesting box, should I block it off?

 

[Chickenmaven]

Quote:
Yes. They need to use them for laying only or you will have some mighty poopy eggs.

 

[Toby96]

What should i do? i have a fake egg if it helps, possibly block off the laying box till I find an egg? Then how do I get them to only lay in the box?

 

[Toby96]

I have 2 wooden perches if it helps at all but they just sleep on the floor!

 

[Toby96]

Here is their coop if it helps at all.

 

[ducks4you]

Don't be worried. They are going INSIDE the coop at night, and that's good enough for now. When they are ready, they'll want to try sleeping higher, and then, they'll be in competition if one roost is higher than any of the others. I've been waiting for my chicks (about 3 months old) to "discover" the roosts I built into my temporary coop:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=185353

My first clutch had 5 ROOSTERS and only one hen! The 5 boys got really competitive really fast!! I only had lean-to's for them. They were scrambling up and fighting for the "sweet" spots. Oh, and they had a crowing competition going. Right now, the 10 of them put themselves to "Bed" inside the igloo, every night, like clockwork, when the sun sets. NO KIDDING! (Good little birdies.) WHen it's hot during the day, they "roost" on the ground under the "tent" where I keep clean straw. Otherwise they go out to explore and see it there are any nibblies in the grass clippings that I've spread over 1/2 of their run. Usually I shake cracked corn for them to find.

BTW, Very nice coop.