I have a feeling my teenager chickens are developing a bad habit. I just completed the nest boxes in their coop now they all cram in there to sleep. 9 chickens are cramming themselves into 2 nest boxes! All are 8 week olds with 2 3 month old Cochins! They look like battery hens for cripes sakes. Should I put up a barrier to keep them out of there? They have 2 nice 2x4 roosts in the coop. But they have never used them. They used to just sleep on the floor, Crammed into a corner in a chicken ball. I went out tonight and shut the vents down. Its in the 40's at night. Insulated coop. All chicks have been outside for 2 weeks now. All are fully feathered. But they act like they are cold the way the crowd eachother in a corner.
i went out there and took them out of the next boxes and placed them on the roost. I boarded up acces to the nest boxes as well. A few seemed to start sleeping on the roost. The others seemed a bit restless and were climbing on the other ones. Again like they are cold. but these chickens are in for a hard life if they think it is cold now!
Wow - it is too early to be on BYC . . . . . My eyes are not focused yet and I thought the title to this thread was "Young CHILDREN sleeping in nest boxes" I think I need more coffee
They'll go up on the roost, it just takes time. With my 8 week old girls they did the same thing for a few days and now that the other hens are getting to know them they let them roost too. They want to be up there but they don't want to be beat up before bed time.
when i first got my hens they were 8 weeks and doing the same thing,so i boxed the nesting boxes off after a couple of weeks they realised what the roosting poles were for, of course apart from when their brooding then we have to physically move them out the nests LOL
Well this morning I went out and checked. There is a nice row of poo on the ground above the roost. Maybe they stayed there after I put them up.
I just broke my teenager chicks of the nest box habit. It was sooo annoying, because they are in with big girls, too. Who would then be trying to lay eggs, but have nest boxes full of night droppings! I went out every evening (before roosting time but after egg time) and boarded off the nest boxes so they'd HAVe to sleep on the roost. I did this for four days - and today I didn't get to it. But they were on the roost anyway! Yay!
I'm glad that you posted this! I have 3 EE chickens (10 weeks old) and 6 other assorted pullets (8 weeks old) that all cram themselves into ONE nest box I've gone out after night and put the 3 bigger ones on the roost, but they won't roost themselves yet. Good idea about blocking off the nest boxes! I'll have to try it.
