4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Robin]

I am new to my Chicken Keeping and have a really nice Eglu cube with double run. I have three chooks about 18-19 weeks old and not yet laying. They seem to want to sleep and poo in the nest box and not roost on the bars. Consequently it's a mess and needs constant cleaning out. I am a bit worried that about when they start laying. What can I do to encourage them to roost on the bars and not in the box. Sorry if this has come up before.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Welcome to the forum, Robin . Don't worry about asking a question that's been asked before - we've all done it!

 

You can put an old football or a flowerpot in the nestbox overnight so they can't sleep (and poo ) in it but you have to make sure you're up early in case there's an early egg .

 

I gave up on that idea and now keep a small plastic scoop beside the egg port which I use to scoop the poop out and into the poo tray.

 

Chickens often change their habits so you may find that they don't always want to sleep there anyway - mine seem happy on the roosting bars at the moment (so no morning poop scooping ).

[Mrs Frugal]

I've just moved this into the chickens section so you'll get some more replies, Robin.

 

Some of mine sleep in the nest too and as long as I clear up the droppings, it doesn't get too bad. I use a thick layer of wood shavings - the type sold for rabbit and guinea pig bedding - in the nest and this helps absorb any moisture from the droppings so the nest doesn't get too dirty. I've not had any problems with the girls using the nest for a bed apart from a couple of broody sessions which were easily dealt with by giving the broody hens a quick cold bath!

 

Welcome to the forum, by the way

[annettec]

We have the same problem our chickens also not laying either.

 

To be honest have tried the flowerpot/basketball trick which kind of works overnight but then during the day they still go in and fill it with poo, so do the same as others and just go in with a cat litter shovel and flick it into the tray for cleaning later and add a little straw if needed.

 

I also place shavings in the nesting area and poo tray as all slides out nice and easily into a bucket !!!

Good luck !

[ajayb]

Hi, We had no problems with nest box soiling with our original 6 Hy-lines in the Cube but it was a big problem when we introduced 3 new pure breeds mid-February. I just used a dog pooh bag to clean any soiling out of the nest box (lined with sawdust and straw) first thing in the morning when I 'released' the hens into the garden. Although I'm pretty sure our Wyandotte still sleeps in the nest box, the soiling problem has got less and less as the weeks have passed and I think it may just be a maturity thing... Hope that helps.

[Aggienator]

I put Aubiose in the nest box and my two sleep in there. There is a neat line of poo along the outer edge which I scoop out with an old cat litter scoop. I actually find it easier than cleaning out the poo tray

[Hen Watch]

You can try the flowerpot/football trick. But personally I'm a big softie and let them sleep there. I put Auboise horse bedding in the nestbox (and in their run) and it soaks up poop nicely and I just flick it out into the poop tray every morning when I open them up. (As you can see they have me trained nicely.... )

[tania]

Mine sleep in the nesting box too, although I am not quite sure who it is. They seem to do it for a while and then go back to the roosting bars for a bit. Guess they like a change of sceenery!

[pearcie]

i had this problem to start with i found that if you move them back onto the roosting bars after its dark they dont move again i had two really stubborn girls who kept sleeping in the nest box i just waited five/ten minutes after i closed them in for the night then open the egg port and push them back through to the roosting bars after a month or two of this they did not even bother to go in the nest box at night i think they got fed up with being pushed back through now no problems at all so it really does work you just got to be persistent and not feel sorry for them when they look all comfy in the nest box............

[Guest]

HI

I got my cube 2 days ago and was told not to put any bedding in the nesting area to stop them ppppooo and today i had a look and it was all over the place i had lined it with newspaper so am going to put some hemcore in it now and be done with it..

mine arent laying yet so still waiting too

indie

[Phoebe]

mine started off sleeping and pooing there, but once they started laying, they either stopped sleeping/stopped poo-ing/or just cleared up after themselves !

 

I put pet wood shavings in too, and apart from a few small dry bits, the girls keep it nice and clean now they are laying.

welcome BTW

[attenbhp]

I had this problem.

I rigged up an internal door made from an old plastic chopping board.

This pivots on a screw, and I raise and lower it with a bit of string through one of the ventilation holes.

It works really well.

I close it in the afternoon, after they've finished laying, then raise it sometime after dark.

If I forget to raise it, the chickens jump over the top of the partition, lay, and jump out again. Clearly the urge to lay an egg in the nest box is stronger than the urge to sleep in it.

[Robin]

I tried this for the first time yesterday and shoved the girls back onto the roosting bars when it was dark. They stayed there all night and the roosting box was nice and clean the following day. So hopefull all sorted. Happy as Larry. Thanks.

 

 

And what is more there was a cute little brown egg- my first.

i had this problem to start with i found that if you move them back onto the roosting bars after its dark they dont move again i had two really stubborn girls who kept sleeping in the nest box i just waited five/ten minutes after i closed them in for the night then open the egg port and push them back through to the roosting bars after a month or two of this they did not even bother to go in the nest box at night i think they got fed up with being pushed back through now no problems at all so it really does work you just got to be persistent and not feel sorry for them when they look all comfy in the nest box............

[snowcloud]

...we put wood shavings in the bowl too - it makes it much easier to clean out the odd mishap in the morning before any of them start to lay. Good luck!

[Steph101]

I tried this for the first time yesterday and shoved the girls back onto the roosting bars when it was dark. They stayed there all night and the roosting box was nice and clean the following day. So hopefull all sorted. Happy as Larry. Thanks.

 

 

And what is more there was a cute little brown egg- my first.

i had this problem to start with i found that if you move them back onto the roosting bars after its dark they dont move again i had two really stubborn girls who kept sleeping in the nest box i just waited five/ten minutes after i closed them in for the night then open the egg port and push them back through to the roosting bars after a month or two of this they did not even bother to go in the nest box at night i think they got fed up with being pushed back through now no problems at all so it really does work you just got to be persistent and not feel sorry for them when they look all comfy in the nest box............

 

 

I also do this every night without fail when I go to lock the girls in (closing the run gate)

and sometimes have to move someone back on to the roosting bars. It works every time.

Don't know what will happen when we go on holiday though!

[fluffyknickers]

My three all sleep in the nest box and i am too soft to chuck them out.

 

It was a problem until I started using aubiose in the nest area and now its just easy.

 

Every morning when I let them out i go round and check for eggs and then at the same time scoop the poo out and put the poo in a big pot ready for giving to people or putting on plants or in the composter!!!

 

michelle

[Sarattie]

I am having a real problem with this too. Tried moving them at night, football and flowerpots....

 

Do you out something in the base of the nest box when using wood shavings or auboise? Itll all fal through the hole in the bottom!

[Valkyrie]

As mine don't lay in winter I use 3 large flowerpots - 2 on end (on their side - small end to the end and large opening to the centre) and one propped up in between them so the base is poking towards the cube hole. Not a problem as they have to sleep on the bars. So basically it's out of action until I hear someone making funny arrrr noises and walking like John Wayne, then I take them out and hope that I get some eggs soon after. I usually put the flower pots back in at night just in case someone says oooh penthouse suite. And there's always someone that likes sitting on the divider with botty hanging over the nest box, so the pots stop that little game. I'm such a party pooper!

[The Dogmother]

If you have a cube, then the smallest size Tubtrug fits perfectly into the circular pop hole and stops them getting into the nest box. I use a plastic strip to stop the Aubiose falling through

[Millie-Annie]

I've yet to have a chicken sleep and poop anywhere else BUT the nest box, whats wrong with mine?

[The Dogmother]

If they sleep in the nest box rather then on the roosting bars, then they will overheat and attract lice to them. You'll also end up with a fouled nest. They are meant to roost on branches, with a flow of air under and around them.

[Millie-Annie]

Mine don't seem to understand this fundamental part of being a chicken then.

[Groovychook]

My lot prefer to sleep on the perches in the run.

I have to lift them into the cube on particularly cold nights but as a rule, there's only my cockerel and one of my older girls sleeping in the house roll:

I've had to odd one that likes to sleep in the nest box (especially when they get older), but the rest of them prefer to be cool.

[gary.fox]

This is my solution, I have a Mk 1 cube. My first hens always roosted on the bars, so it wasn’t a problem. My second flock were always in the nest box, sometimes piled on top of each other, along with the two flowerpots intended to deter this behaviour. Things could get messy in there, quite literally. I’ve had a short break from chicken keeping, and in the mean time adding a walk in run. When I got my new girls a month or so back I was determined not to let the problem reoccur. I have made a small board from plywood, which slides onto 2 screws, with spacers and washers slightly wider than the board, screwed  into the partition. I take it out when I let the chooks out in the morning, and replace it later in the day. 

[The Dogmother]

I find that the smallest TubTrug fits in that hole very nicely and blocks off the nestbox at night.