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

[annieblue]

Advice needed please, I'm very confused

 

Before getting my 6 ex batts and the I read all sorts of stuff about chook keeping, some of it conflicting, some of it very useful of course. One thing I'm struggling with is this sleeping lark!

Everywhere I read it said that the chooks sleep in the main part of the , not in the nesting box. That seems a bit strange, why would a chook want to sleep on a bit of plastic when they could be all snuggly buggly in the nest box?

The first few nights they seemed to stay in the main part but now they all pile into the nest box, practically sitting on eachother.

I've tried putting cardboard across the entrance, Ha!, it was trampled flat by morning. tried putting newspaper over the straw and it made no difference at all.

 

This has gone on for a few nights now, although Pip is usually the one who stays outside the nest box and I need to know if there's an effective way of keeping them out of the nest box or doesnt it matter?

I've obviously been cleaning to poops out and clearing the soiled straw every morning and they're still laying eggs in there.

Help!

[Lavenders_Blue]

I think it's an ex-batts thing - mine are exactly the same. They all squash into the nest box, or sleep on the floor of the house and completely ignore the perch.

 

I think birds instinctively like to perch as they would in the wild but ex-batts have never had to perch before so I think they are just as happy cuddling down on the floor or in the nest box.

 

Personally I don't worry about it as mine don't lay their eggs in the nest box either so I just poo pick it daily with the rest of the house, it doesn't need to be kept any cleaner for my girls than the rest of their house but it might be different for you.

[speckled hen]

I have opened the nest box hatch at night and found 6 chooks in a heap they did it for a while but have decided to use the perches. I wouldn't worry, they seem to do what suits them best

[jimnpaula]

Mine sleep all over the place but when I first got them they all slept in the nest box. I didn't give them the roosting bars to start with and those that couldn't squash into the nest area hunkered down on the floor.

 

Since then I've taken the divider out so it's just one big space but if the reddening faces mean they are going to start to lay again I may put it back in.

 

P

[JanTheDiver]

We have had our chooks for about 7wks and they have slept in a combination of the cube bars and the nest in the . There are a couple that always sleep in the nest and the rest have mainly migrated to the roosting bars, but they do swap around sometimes.

 

It means that I have to clean out the nest every morning, but have got used to it now

[Carol U]

Mine have always slept in a heap in the nesting box, except on very hot nights when they favour the bars. I really don't think it matters a bit and it doesn't take a minute to remove any poo in the morning. They also seem to dustbath in a heap under the bushes and when they retire for their afternoon nap in a corner of their run, guess what? They do that in a heap too

[Janty]

My ex-batts were just the same. I started putting straw on top of the roosting bars and that helped move them into the right area.

[annieblue]

Thanks for all the advice. Seems like I was worrying about nothing. This evening I've put straw in part of the main perch area and kept the nest box closed with the aid of cardboard and a brick!

 

When the girls went in for the night, they were NOT impressed and started pushing up against the cardboard, after a bit of pushing ans hoving I put the light out and left them to it.

Pip is still a bit of a loner, her tail feathers rarely rise up but she is getting food and water so fingers crossed she'll make it.

[beulah59]

I have an ark with the perch over the nest box ... so although my ex-batts are now roosting, I still have to clean out the nest box in the mornings!