[slop jockey]

  good afternoon to you all.yet again i'm asking for advice. i have 8 chickens some of whom have started to lay. i have three nest boxes attached to the coop, but when i put them to bed three of the eight decide that it will be nice and cosy if all three of us squash into one nest box. i've tried putting them up on the perches and they seem to stay for a while, but then they jump down and go into the box. now here is the $64.000 question. can i block the nest boxes up until the  morning, or will this cause a problem with laying
(although ay the moment they seem to lay late morning and late afternoon) or is there something else that i can do. at the moment the oners laying are using the opposite end nest box only. but this wil cause congestion when they are all laying. please help if you can. thanks

[Ma Lowe]

I block mine off as one of the girls tends to go sleep in the nesting box and mess a mess in there. I remove it at around 7am and on the odd occasion one will lay in the coup. Once they are used to the idea that they have to sleepon the perches I will remove the board at night lol.

[slop jockey]

well i tried to temporary / partially block the nest boxes off tonight, and when i went to see how they were getting on i found 1 bird in the nest and the other two perched on top of the board with their bums poking out through the piece of hessian i have across the
opening. i had to chuckle to myself for their effort and i wish i had my camera. i will have to get a higher piece of board tomorrow and do the same as yourself and see how they get on with that. many thanks. Andy