close off nestbox at night???

[rob77]

Hello, shd i close my nestbox off at night,as my 4 hens all sleep and poop in there,??? and not on theyre perches,this is what i have been doing, but a freind said, that his lay early morn before he gets up?? what shouldi do for the best??

 

[greatbarnet]

Hi rob, I had a similar problem with one of my hens so I put flowerpots in the nest boxes to stop her going to sleep in there. It seemed to give her the message as the other night I forgot to put the pots in and she didn't go in there to sleep. So it might not need to be a permanent measure to take; you may get away with only doing it for a week or so. I've seen someone else advise that if you think they'll be up early and want to lay, you could take the pots out again after dark when they've settled down to sleep somewhere else in the coop.

 

[Wrigley62]

Good morning Rob,

Are the nesting boxes higher or lower than the perches?? I'm sure you already know, but they need to be lower than the perches.

Mine were doing the same thing, sleeping and pooping in them. I put a piece of plywood across them. I took it off during the day so they could inspect the boxes without the worry of them sleeping in them. At around 17 weeks old I noticed a few of them checking out the boxes, so I left the plywood off and like clock work within two days I had my first egg.

Good luck

Wrigley

 

[EddieS]

I never close nest boxes off, if they feel comfortable I leave them. We only have them for 3 or 4 years,
let them be happy. They will lay just as many eggs, a bit dirtier perhaps, but unless you are commercial does it matter?

 

[BeemerBaz]

I never close nest boxes off, if they feel comfortable I leave them. We only have them for 3 or 4 years,
let them be happy. They will lay just as many eggs, a bit dirtier perhaps, but unless you are commercial does it matter?

Being a new keeper and waiting for my first eggs this has reassured me somewhat as when I agreed to let the wife keep chucks it was because its quite a simple operation. I couldn't be doing with all the additional chores and procedures etc.

Don get me wrong, they are kept clean and dry, fed and watered and get plenty of attention but if they can't work out where they sleep/poo/lay then there future is vastly reduced !

Baz.

 

[greatbarnet]

I totally see what you mean; I was happy leaving my hen to sleep where she wanted. But cleaning poop out of the wood shavings on the floor of the coop is considerably easier than trying to unpick it from the straw in the nest box! So a week of faffing about with flowerpots has in fact reduced my chores.

 

[NEWTODUCKS]

What I do is put a row of sheets of newspaper under the perch and just scoop them all up in the morning. I also put newpaper in the nesting boxes at night and remove in the morning as mine also like to sleep in there at night.

 

[rob77]

I totally see what you mean; I was happy leaving my hen to sleep where she wanted. But cleaning poop out of the wood shavings on the floor of the coop is considerably easier than trying to unpick it from the straw in the nest box! So a week of faffing about with flowerpots has in fact reduced my chores.

yes same here, thats my thoughts and problem right there, lol

 

[valeriebutterley]

All of mine have this summer taken to sleeping, pooing and laying in the nest boxes, not a pretty sight in the morning!
I am about to see how the first ever flower pot trick worked overnight. I do agree that even with much loved hens as few chores as possible is good!!
Will keep you informed.

 

[Marigold]

It's a good idea to train them to use the perches from the first night they go in the coop, by blocking off the nestboxes from the start. I'm doing this ATM with my new POL hybrids, who were introduced to the coop, and the big girls, last night after dark. This evening I had to go down to 'help' them to know where to go to roost, (and I expect to have to do this for another few nights until one night I shall go down and find they've put themselves to bed.) Once trained to use the perches, end of problem. Half an hour after putting them to bed, I went down again and opened the pophole, which I always leave open at night so they can get lots of air and get up when they're ready in the morning. By then they were asleep, so I removed the flower pots, mainly so I didn't forget them next morning. They will only be necessary for a few nights, until they get the idea of where the perches are. But even if there are no chickens in lay in the flock, you do need to remove the pots in the morning, as POL pullets will want to be able to inspect the nestboxes when they're about to come inot lay.

Chickens have obviously evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to perch at night, originally up in trees for protection. They have a wonderful grip reflex in their claws, which lock on to the perch when they're asleep so they don't fall off in the night, as you or i probably would. They are easy to train to use perches rather then nestboxes, and the practical advantages are obvious, both from the point of view of convenience when keeping the boxes clean, and hygiene, ie clean eggs. When you have to wash dirty eggs, bacteria from the poo can get drawn in to the egg through the porous shell, and I don't fancy that at breakfast time!