My Hen Sleeping/pooping in nesting box

[Rookie chicken gal]

Hello All!

I did find some answers to my hen that has decided to use one of the nesting boxes for her bed at night and therefore pooping in it as well. However, I’m trying to figure out how to get her to stop! So she is one of my hens that recently went through a pretty severe molting but has since gotten all of her feathers back. I stopped using a light for heat because of all of the negativity against heat lamps from health of the chicken to safety issues (ours is mounted on the ceiling of the coop). Anyway, that being said …..recently I had to plug in my heat source to keep their water from freezing and in doing that I had noticed that evening the heat lamp was on in the coop and that particular hen was now on the roosting bar near the side of the coop where the heat lamp was. Of course I unplugged it and found poop again in the nesting box the next morning. So obviously she jumped down and went right back to the nesting box. My question is do you think she is cold? I have 12 hens and 2 nesting bars that are on the opposite side of the hen house from the nesting boxes. They are 2x4’s that are 4 foot long and it seems that 9 hens are on the top roosting bar and and 2 are on the lower nesting bar so there is plenty of room for the one that chooses to be in the nesting box. I have put a small piece of a 2x4 in the box she is sleeping in to try to detour her and I found poop on it the next morning! I have 6 nesting boxes, 3 on the upper and 3 on the floor below the others. They more often than not all choose the same upper nesting box. What can I do to get her back to the roost??

 

[rosemarythyme]

that particular hen was now on the roosting bar near the side of the coop where the heat lamp was. Of course I unplugged it and found poop again in the nesting box the next morning. So obviously she jumped down and went right back to the nesting box. My question is do you think she is cold?

Is this a traditional heat lamp that gives off light as well as heat? If yes, I think she took advantage of the fact that she can see easily and went to her sleeping spot of choice.

You have 12 hens and 2 bars measuring 4' long? Optimally you'd need another 4' span somewhere, it's really not enough roost and she's possibly getting bullied off, especially if everyone is fighting over a higher roost.

I have put a small piece of a 2x4 in the box she is sleeping in to try to detour her and I found poop on it the next morning!

Why would you put a bar in the roost? To me that would only encourage her to sit above it (and poop). To deter her, either block off nests entirely (cardboard is sufficient) or put in something large enough that she cannot get in, like a filled milk jug. I find a sheet of cardboard to be easiest.

If none of the birds are actively laying, just keep the nests covered for now. If they are laying, cover before dusk, and uncover after it's completely dark, provided that you do not add any sort of light in the coop.

 

[Rookie chicken gal]

Is this a traditional heat lamp that gives off light as well as heat? If yes, I think she took advantage of the fact that she can see easily and went to her sleeping spot of choice.

You have 12 hens and 2 bars measuring 4' long? Optimally you'd need another 4' span somewhere, it's really not enough roost and she's possibly getting bullied off, especially if everyone is fighting over a higher roost.

Why would you put a bar in the roost? To me that would only encourage her to sit above it (and poop). To deter her, either block off nests entirely (cardboard is sufficient) or put in something large enough that she cannot get in, like a filled milk jug. I find a sheet of cardboard to be easiest.

If none of the birds are actively laying, just keep the nests covered for now. If they are laying, cover before dusk, and uncover after it's completely dark, provided that you do not add any sort of light in the coop.

I laid only a 12 inch piece of 2x4 inside the nesting box to try to detour her from sleeping in it. Obvi it didn’t work. She slept right on top of it. I also place a wood round in the main nesting box they all lay in and went out the next morning and one of the hens was already in one of the boxes that was below the main box they all use to lay in. So you think I need another roosting bar when there are only 2 hens on the lower roost? It seems that there is plenty of room for her to join the 2 on the lower roost

 

[aart]

Some pics of the inside of the coop would help here.
As well as dimensions of coop and roost lengths.
Sounds like you need more roosts.
Nests would definitely need to be completely blocked to keep them from sleeping in them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

So you think I need another roosting bar when there are only 2 hens on the lower roost? It seems that there is plenty of room for her to join the 2 on the lower roost

More roost wouldn't hurt, and if you can manage to make the new one at the same height as the higher one, that may help redistribute the birds better.

 

[Rookie chicken gal]

Some pics of the inside of the coop would help here.
As well as dimensions of coop and roost lengths.
Sounds like you need more roosts.
Nests would definitely need to be completely blocked to keep them from sleeping in them.

T

More roost wouldn't hurt, and if you can manage to make the new one at the same height as the higher one, that may help redistribute the birds better.

I feel like they use the lower one to get up to the higher one. Not sure I have room for another one if I leave the lower one. Maybe I can get the hubby to take the lower one out and just build a ramp to the higher ones?

 

[nuthatched]

T

I feel like they use the lower one to get up to the higher one. Not sure I have room for another one if I leave the lower one. Maybe I can get the hubby to take the lower one out and just build a ramp to the higher ones?

You need more roost space , not a ramp, each bird should have 16" of linear space. Two 4' roosts are not enough, 1 is definitely not enough.
The lower perch girls are not letting her roost with them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I feel like they use the lower one to get up to the higher one. Not sure I have room for another one if I leave the lower one. Maybe I can get the hubby to take the lower one out and just build a ramp to the higher ones?

This is where photos would help. I don't know what your set up looks like.

How high are the current roosts? What breeds do you have? For most breeds getting UP onto roosts isn't an issue, getting down might be, depending on landing space, as chickens aren't the most graceful landing.

 

[Rookie chicken gal]

Some pics of the inside of the coop would help here.
As well as dimensions of coop and roost lengths.
Sounds like you need more roosts.
Nests would definitely need to be completely blocked to keep them from sleeping in them.

T

More roost wouldn't hurt, and if you can manage to make the new one at the same height as the higher one, that may help redistribute the birds better.

okay…..I will have him remove the lower one an move it to the same height. I don’t know that I would have room for 3 roosts. I will get photos tomorrow and post them so you all can see the space I’m working with. Thanks so much for the input.

 

[MAT10]

I have 10 hens. Don't know if this is helpful but this is my setup for our coop. They all seem to do just fine on one roosting bar. If I did have two roosting bars, I would definitely make them the same height.

Blocked my nesting boxes with cardboard to block my broody hen Worked like a charm .