Why is she sleeping in the nest box?

[Carson213]

your roosting bars are super low. put them as high as you can. my lowest one is 4 ft high

 

[Carson213]

if you don’t change the boxes, just drastically change the height of the roosts...they like to be as high as they can get. every time i add a new higher level...they crowd up to that newest height. i’ve actually been using old deer and elk antlers as roosts that i found in my barn along with an old wood ladder. they’ll roost on anything high up like any bird.

 

[ellend]

My girls will not sleep anywhere near windows; fear of predators. They want to roost in a safe dark area. I had to cover my coop windows to get them to roost on the roost bars.

 

[West Bend]

My red sex link hen, Ruth, has been sleeping in the nest box in our coop for the past couple of nights.
She isn't broody, as she's out during the day and doesn't mind when I move her.
The nesting boxes are well below the roosts.
I don't think she's being bullied, as she's not the lowest in the pecking order and I haven't seen any bullying.
View attachment 2519684
Coop interior: the other three hens have been sleeping on the farthest roost together and Ruth has been sleeping in the farthest nesting box. When I nudge her out of the box, she hops onto the roost with the others.
Any idea why she is doing this?
Ruth, the trouble chicken:
View attachment 2519697

Is she molting or just finishing? My Girls molted late Dec-Jan and they would sleep in the nest boxes. I think they wanted to be left alone as the new feathers came in & im sure were uncomfortable. Not sure if they were picked at. None of them were laying so I covered up the boxes. Sure wish they'd start laying again.

 

[CluckerFamily]

She is usually one of the first in, and they are usually all in right as the sun barely begins to set.
I don't know how old they are. I'm going to guess coming up on two years? I did not get them as chicks.

She has me stumped!!
The only other thing I can think of is possibly the start of broodiness, where she is thinking about going broody.

 

[black_cat]

It is a new development that they're sleeping on the roost farthest from the door, they used to sleep either on the closest, second closest, or some on each.

 

[black_cat]

I forgot to check for mites and lice, but last night I took a picture of them. You can see Ruth in the box. It's on my phone so I'll post it later.

 

[Trisseh]

I would expect silkies to avoid roosts because of their lack of feathers to fly up to them.

My roosts aren’t super high, (maybe 18-20” at most? Nest box is on the floor) everyone can get up on there and usually do. It’s just when it’s colder than normal that she says NOPE! It’s bizarre.

 

[BleuSaphir]

Is she sleeping there perhaps to extra warmth?

 

[black_cat]

Is she laying eggs?

Maybe the roosting bars are not comfortable for her? Are the roosts a bit rounded, hard to tell in the photo.
She may be getting picked at a bit too - take time to observe behavior. If she's the lowest in order, the others may be keeping her from roosting or she's just timid.

I do not know- I have three RSLs and I've been getting 1-2 RSL eggs each day, along with my daily leghorn egg.
The edges are not sharp, but the roosts are just squares. She didn't have a problem with it in the several months that we've had our coop before this (that's an old pic) and because it's been windy they've been hanging out inside during the day, and I've seen her on the roosts then.
I think she's the second lowest, but I'll definitely take some time to try to watch more.