[hendreary]

I have had a couple of chickens for nearly three weeks now. When I got them from Merrydale the man told me they were about 18 weeks old, although I think one is older due to the size of the wattles. They have not yet laid any eggs but eat and drink well.
They appear to spend nights in the nest box often one on top of the other, I have never yet seen them on the perch nor is there any sign of poo next to the perch, plenty in the nest box though. Should I block the nest box off so they have to perch or perhaps its just that the temperature is a bit low at the moment and the nest is warmer. I'm feeding Dodson & Horrell Layers Pellets (mainly because its a local firm). Both chickens are Amber Star Hybrids.
Any advise would be most welcome.
Thank you.
Geoff Davis.

[janet12000]

If you want them to perch, you can move them from the nest boxes on to the perches after they have gone to bed.
Mine occasionally perch but mostly sleep in the nest boxes . It doesn't bother me really

[Nickchick]

Hello there.

Rightly or wrongly my 2 ex-batts have never roosted (had them 10 months) they too sleep in the nest box.  After they have laid I line the nest box with newspaper so when they poop at night we just lift out the paper in the morning complete with poo.

[8doubles]

Yes block the nestbox off at night so they get used to perching before the egg laying starts, a piece of hardboard will do and the nest will stay cleaner
It is suprising how they cram into one nestbox.

One of mine (3 yr old) has decided to sleep in the nestbox again luckily she does not foul it .
If i blocked it off now any early laid eggs would end up on the floor.

[dizzylizzie]

Hi, if you really dont want your girls sleeping in the nest boxes, then lift them onto the roost bar like Janet say's to do, then block off the nest boxes. However, if it really dosent bother you, just leave them. It wont cause them any harm, and when you let them out first thing, just do a quick poop scoop so the eggs dont get dirty

[lukasmum]

Three of my new girls prefer to roost on top of their house instead of in it!
I keep popping out to put them to bed, hoping they''ll catch on...but so far, the highest point seems favourite!
...persistence!

[Debz]

I have a large hen house and only 3 girls (because it was the only way I could see to getting a large run) so my girls now sleep in the nest box.  It means they make a bit of a mess but poo picking sorts that out.

[Beano]

That's a brilliant idea Nickchick. I'll be doing that from now on!!

[themagicaltoad1]

Mine have only just started to perch at night and they're a year old. I tried putting them on the perch at bedtime, and it became a battle of wits between us, as soon as I shut the door they'd go back in the box, so I'd repeat the procedure, and I'm sure they saw it as a game! in the end I gave up. I have a layer of sawdust/ shavings under the straw and if you shake the straw the poop falls through to the sawdust where it's easy to scoop out with a small garden spade.

[carolbriar]

Mine all squeeze into the nest boxes.  I have to make sure I poo pick before they start laying but it doesn't seem to be a problem.  I wondered if my perches were a bit high at about 18 inches off the floor of the house so I made a lower step up but they still haven't touched it. 

[hillfooter]

Chx naturally huddle together to keep warm at night and so are attracted to the tight confines of a nestbox which is warmer than a drafty perch.  One big mistake I often see is that houses only have a single, or a double, perching pole which doesn't allow them to huddle together on a perch.  If you had a grill of perches say 15 to 18inches wide with 5 or six poles that would more nearly provide them with the sort of perch they would naturally use in a tree and would allow them to huddle together easily.  See attached photo for an illustration of how they behave in a tree.  If your perches don't offer this possibility then you are encouraging them to use the nestbox instead.

Personally I don't like to encourage them to roost in a nestbox for sanitary reasons. A perch where their droppings fall through onto litter where they have no access to is far more hygienic all round for chx and eggs and you'd be well advised to adopt this practise and shut up the nestboxes at night.  However it's your choice.

The perching bar should be rectangular section aroiund 50mm X 30mm ish (larger for bigger breeds or smaller for bantams) with rounded edges and there's no need for them to be more than 12 inches above the floor.  A sloping grill starting 6inch above floor level and sloping towards the rear is fine.
Regards
HF

[leddenton]

I used to try and block off the nesting box when i first had my 3 chickens but it became a battle and i now let them huddle in together. Its easy to shake out the poo from the shredded paper in the morning when I feed them and the main coop stays clean for ages

[katanadan]

I had this problem with my orpingtons. So I put two breeze blocks about 5 feet apart and on the floor, then put the perch on them, so it stood just over a foot from the ground. I raised it by another half a foot each night until I got it to the height I wanted, I also put a ramp up to it (my orps are lazy) and put little bits of corn on the ramp to get them used to using it. It took just over a week to get them used to this. Incidently, if I lock them away before they are ready they will sleep on the floor, I guess their eyesight isn't great.  :blink:

[chooksbury]

Three of my new girls prefer to roost on top of their house instead of in it!
I keep popping out to put them to bed, hoping they''ll catch on...but so far, the highest point seems favourite!
...persistence!

Our were the same and it was very frustrating .. but it was eventually cured when we built a stand for the house and raised it up so that they could no longer make it onto the roof.  It's a lenham .. and the stand was only £25 to make but other houses could be raised this way too .. we used metpost corners and pieces of 2x2 timber to make four legs and a supporting frame.  Now the house is higher up their need to go UP is satisfied and it's easier to get at for cleaning out too.

[lucylou]

i love your girls in the tree hillfooter! they are so amusing but i dont know why exactly