Why should they sleep on a roost

[pinkladyjo]

I tend to be very layed back in my approach to animals. Our chickens sleep in their nesting boxes and I never really though much about it. We only have 8 chickens so we just wipe their eggs off if they get soiled. Why is it so important that they not be allowed to sleep in their nesting box?

 

[azygous]

It's not important. It's strictly your management choice. But the reasons many of us encourage roosting is as follows:

-It's natural for chickens to roost.
-It keeps chickens bodies out of their poop.
-It keeps the nests cleaner and thus cleaner eggs.
-It helps us monitor the poop as to general flock health and alerts us early
to possible disease such as cocci, worms, and individual crop disorders.
-It makes it easier to keep the coop clean since many of us utilize poop boards under roosts and it's a rather simple matter of hosing or scraping them off each morning.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

I just hate dirty eggs or poopy chickens. And dirty lay boxes are nasty.

But aside from that, rats are chicken predators. I prefer mine OFF the ground.

Only reason for a chicken to sleep in the nesting box at my place is to hatch eggs or raise chicks. But broody's DON'T poo in the box.

The chicken vent turns inside out so that eggs never touch feces when being laid by the chicken, except what they come in contact with once laid. Avoiding e-coli and other contaminants is reason enough for me. The eggs have a protective layer that helps them stay fresher longer if you don't wash it off. But if it's compromised by being soiled when laid then it defeats the purpose. So your eggs will lose their freshness faster. And who wants to eat eggs that had poo on them, washed or not?

Anyways, that's just me. Like Azygous said... most things in animal rearing are about personal choice. I will also note that soiled eggs have a lower hatch rate, showing it does indeed have SOME impact on the eggs.

 

[Krazyquilts]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

I just hate dirty eggs or poopy chickens. And dirty lay boxes are nasty.

But aside from that, rats are chicken predators. I prefer mine OFF the ground.

Only reason for a chicken to sleep in the nesting box at my place is to hatch eggs or raise chicks. But broody's DON'T poo in the box.

The chicken vent turns inside out so that eggs never touch feces when being laid by the chicken, except what they come in contact with once laid. Avoiding e-coli and other contaminants is reason enough for me. The eggs have a protective layer that helps them stay fresher longer if you don't wash it off. But if it's compromised by being soiled when laid then it defeats the purpose. So your eggs will lose their freshness faster. And who wants to eat eggs that had poo on them, washed or not?

Anyways, that's just me. Like Azygous said... most things in animal rearing are about personal choice. I will also note that soiled eggs have a lower hatch rate, showing it does indeed have SOME impact on the eggs.

I agree. Part of what I consider to be proper flock management is clean nesting boxes to help with keeping eggs clean. Poopy nesting boxes get emptied and filled with clean straw immediately.

 

[pinkladyjo]

I tend to be very layed back in my approach to animals. Our chickens sleep in their nesting boxes and I never really though much about it. We only have 8 chickens so we just wipe their eggs off if they get soiled. Why is it so important that they not be allowed to sleep in their nesting box?

 

[pinkladyjo]

I was concerned that I was doing something really harmful. My husband just cleans the boxes every day. I may try to get them to roost simply for sanitation and to keep the eggs cleaner and maybe fresh for longer but at least I know Im not actually doing something horribly wrong thanks for the input.

 

[JedJackson]

Cleanliness and hygiene are the main reason, but there are many others. I don't want to have to scoop out dried doo doo if a mite problem happens and I need to dust with diatomaceous earth and ashes. And it's much easier to collect the manure off the ground to be used for chicken compost, which is great for gardens and sells for decent money around here, so it's a it's one more thing I can do to balance the chicken budget.

 

[mesafox101]

mine sleep in the nesting boxes too and i never see any problems

 

[lazy gardener]

IMO, it's basic sanitation. I block my pullets out of the nest until they all go to roost. The more timid ones tend to take a long time to train to the roost. I find myself wondering if a hen would avoid laying her egg in a poopy nest if she had the option. One of the most disgusting things related to chicken keeping is to reach in to the nest to grab an egg, and stick your finger in a poo that was left behind by a sloppy lady. Simply yucky. If I can bring in a basket full of clean eggs, I don't have stained eggs that need to be scrubbed. Those eggs, while I will use them are not fit to be sold to my customers. Nor, do I want to have to clean a poopy nest every day.