Nicho Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 I think our chickens are a bit special in the head. My wife has just come in and told me that 5 out of 6 of our girls are squeezed into the nest box of our cube. Why would they do that? They have a lovely amount of space in there but seem to prefer sleeping on top of each other. What can I do to get the to sleep on the perches? If anything? I have been picking the poo out every day but it is getting ridiculous. Any ideas are, as always, very warmly received. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 How cute You can block it with a plant pot or a football but you may find the odd egg on the bars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennydavies Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 I turfed two of ours out of one nest box tonight, once I turf them out they go to sleep on the perch bars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicho Posted June 15, 2010 Author Share Posted June 15, 2010 I thought about that. I will give it a try tomorrow. They have never laid an egg in the night yet so that shouldn't be a problem. I was wondering if I block it when they go in, and then unblock it when they're asleep, will they stay out or would they move back in as soon as possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine-chick Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 I have an Eglu classic and my 3 girls all try and fit on the nest. When they've gone in for the night I find them - one on top of the other But they seem happy enough and still manage to lay their eggs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 Mine can't stand sleeping on bars. I have no idea why. So they sleep in their nest boxes. They hated the bars so much they wouldn't even walk over them so i removed them. When the shed is done their will be loads of bars but then their will be communal nest boxes and small nest boxes on a platform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the bradley bunch Posted June 16, 2010 Share Posted June 16, 2010 my 3 ex-bat girls also sleep together in their nest box! we've had our girls for 3 weeks now, and we were advised that because they are ex-bats the natural instinct to perch won't kick at first, and that if they still weren't perching after a couple of weeks we should sneak in at night and move them onto the perches once they've dozed off. i however chose not to do this and to just let them decide for themselves if they wanted to perch. i did this for a number of reasons; firstly because i have a wooden 'house' style coop, and i would have to lift the whole roof off to get to the birds and move them; secondly because two of our girls were in quite a sorry state when we got them and i know for certain that one of them wouldn't be able to perch because she has very bad legs and struggles to stand up for long periods, so i worry about the ability of all of them to perch; and finally, because i just feel that these birds have had such an awful life and been forced to live in such awful conditions, that if they want to sleep in the comfort of their cosy nest box then i think they deserve to do so! ex-bats tend to only live for up to 2 years after rescue and i want my girls to have the best life they possibly can during this time. if they ever want to perch then they have a bar to do so, but i'm happy to just let them follow their own instinct. we have never had a dirty egg and i just spend a couple of minutes each afternoon poo picking the nest box whilst the girls are free ranging. if somebody does know of any medical/health reasons why perching should be encouraged please do let me know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
