Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: RobH on November 27, 2009, 13:25
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Hi all, I’ve had my 4 hens for a couple of weeks now and all seems to be well. My only concern is that rather and roosting in the main part of the coop, all 4 have taken to bedding down for the night in one of the two nesting boxes.
I guess this in not a problem now but what about when they start laying (hopefully) in the spring? I’m not sure this is nothing to be concerned about but does anyone have any thoughts?
I'm thinking about raising the height of the wooden latts I have put in for them to roost on as at the moment they are only 2" off the floor of the coop.
Thanks Rob
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Hi Rob - must be a chicken thing !!- we too have just had our four chickens for just over two weeks and three of them all cram into one of the two nesting boxes while the other one tucks herself up in a corner...however we had our first egg the day before yesterday and one again this morning and it was in the other nesting box .. So don't think you need to worry guess they'll sort it out themselves
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:D It's definately a hen thing. After spoiling my girls with a Lenham 503 .. in all it's splendour ... the first few nights they wouldn't go in at all. Now they go in, but after one night on the perches, will now only sleep in the bl**dy corridor .. so I STILL have to clean the poo out every morning and they can stand or sit in it. Bah ! Hens !
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hi there , have u tried blocking of the nest boxes :D i place a plank of wood over mine is that possible with yours .
some ppl dont mind if their girls sleep in the boxes but only prob with it is the egss can get extra pooy .
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Hi
I block the nesting boxes off at night and have added an extra perch to my Lenham house so that they no option but to perch. It's much easier to keep them and the house clean that way.
Jo
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But then what is the point of having nesting boxes if the chickens can't get into them ?!! :unsure:
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But then what is the point of having nesting boxes if the chickens can't get into them ?!! :unsure:
they're as the name suggests, 'nesting' boxes, boxes for the purpose of nest building and then hopefully egg laying in
however, nobody has ever managed to explain this to chickens sucessfully :tongue2:
this often leads to chickens roosting in the nest boxes, and we all know what chickens do alot of whilst roosting ? chicken poop :ohmy: which means you need to keep cleaning/removing soiled material otherwise you get dirty eggs
this is why some folks block off nest boxes at night
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'which means you need to keep cleaning/removing soiled material otherwise you get dirty eggs'
Well we are just starting out on chicken keeping so far we've just cleaned it out and changed the straw..so is still a novelty factor ..however time wil tell ....!!! Mnd you the two eggs we have had so far have been very clean..whether this continues remains to be seen I suppose
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??? We've discovered that ours are sleeping in the corridor of the Lenham .. so have added a little central perch area, a bit like a ladder, which matches the side ones, and have shavings under it. Problem solved !
As to the egg boxes, I believe they lay in the day, so thats when we open the nest . When we close the pophole, we close down and lock the nest boxes (which is one of the lenham features)
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Mine insist on sleeping on the wood shavings rather than on their perches, and they have a choice of two! Instead they both squash into one corner together, and sleep on their poop. Have tried any number of nights to lift them onto their perches - they just cluck at me sleepily and with great dignity get off. Have now given up as they seem determined to have their own way. Am just glad they haven't decided to use the nestboxes.
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Thanks, that's what I meant chooksbury :blink:
The Lenham is a fab house, but I have found it difficult persuading the hens to roost on the angled bars, adding one to the central walkway has done the trick for me too.
I put strips of wallpaper on the floor area, the vinyl or thick embossed stuff works the best. It slides in/out very easy makes light work of rid of poo :)
Jo
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Mine did this for about 7 weeks. I tried all sorts of things, blocking bits off, lifting them onto the perch, extra perches, different perches, higher perches etc. Eventually I put a small low voltage light on a time switch in there, it's only about only uses about 1W and is quite dim. Currently it is set to come on a 3 and off at 7. Within a couple of days of installing it they all 4 to perch and do so every night without fail.
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it took me weeks of moving the hens from nest box to perch before they got the gist, but now the nest boxes stay clean and fresh for the eggs. If yours are not laying yet Rob H then I would certainly block off the nest boxes to break the habit. These long nights mean they do A LOT of pooing while they sleep and nest boxes full of poo for them to lay onto isn't nice. I know we all poo pick but if they lay early morning there isn't always time for a clean up before the egg arrives. :tongue2:
Persevere, it pays off in the end. Also if the perches were higher than the nest boxes that will help. Good luck :)
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I have read all the books about chickens and perching ect, but when are the chickens going to start doing what it says because they cant read
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Thanks, that's what I meant chooksbury :blink:
The Lenham is a fab house. I put strips of wallpaper on the floor area, the vinyl or thick embossed stuff works the best. It slides in/out very easy makes light work of rid of poo :)
Jo
Ditto ! We cut a piece off left-over non slip vinyl bathroom flooring to size which goes under the shavings .. the whole thing slides out very quickly in the mornings and rinses off easily. Its certainly a chore getting these girls bedtime trained. They started to use the perches the other day, but tonight we came home and the little b**gers were up on the roof again. AAARRRGGGHHH We're going to add some sort of thin crest to the roof ridge and make it nigh on impossible to perch up there. Hopefully that'll put a stop to it. Finally. ( ::)) And the light idea is good. Would love to see a pic of that in place ...