[henrietta5]

hello - does anyone know how to stop hens pooing in their nesting box ?  I have 11 in a coop, and it's two youngish (17wks) Orpingtons that do it every night.  I have tried screening off the nest box with a plastic curtain, but that didn't stop them. I have one  hen who lays at the moment and she uses the nesting box as sh'e meant to so I can't really block it off completely.  The two hens in question seem to want to roost on the floor or on top of one another, but not on the roosting bars.  I have tried lifting them onto the bars but they soon hop down again.  I wondered if it was a breed thing, but I have two older and much larger orpingtons who happily roost on the bars.  Any help would be welcome !  many thanks

[hillfooter]

It's not a breed trait all chickens can develop this habit and I'm affraid the only solution I know of is to shutter off the nest box at night and open it in the morning otherwise you will need to clean it out each morning and have the odd fouled eggs.  Usually after a prolonged period of shuttering they will lose the habit and roost normally though they may ocassionally revert and you'll need to retrain them.

Regards

[henrietta5]

Thanks hillfooter - I will rig up something to block it off at night that can be removed early in the morning 

[SMD66]

so that the nest boxes are avaiable for laying in the mornings I would shutter off the boxes early evening, wait till after dark and go and remove it.  Hopefully the chucks will have found a place to sleep and will stay there for the night.
It took me about 2-3 weeks of lifting onto perches to stop mine.  Also I added and extra perch which freed up perch space for the lowest in the pecking order to get onto a perch without being pecked.