New Jersey Giants sleeping in nesting box

[Monika S]

Hi all,
so I have 4 New Jersey Giants. I've been having various chicken breeds within the last 12 years and never had much of a problem with the ladies not using the coop to sleep at night. While my Australorp was still alive, the Jersey Giants slept on the roost. She died of old age about 6 months ago and now they have gradually migrated into the nesting box where they sleep unless I close it off and make them get into the coop, where they then sleep on the coop floor. It was a 2x4 in one area and a thick tree limb in another area. I changed it to two 2x4's next to each other, thinking they might need a bigger surface. However, still no luck. They also quit laying. My coop is big and the nesting box is part of a bunny hutch, so very small for 3 Jersey Giants. 1st question: Is my coop too big? I made it larger when I got them because I read they needed more space then other chickens. If not, why else would they not sleep on their roost? 2nd question: They quit laying eggs when they started molting and have not started laying again and it's been over 2 months. What's going on? Thanks!

 

[nuthatched]

How much roost space do you have?

 

[azygous]

Where do you live? Top or lower half of the planet? If you're in the top half, there is too little sunlight for laying hormones to be triggered. After January eggs will appear again.

Your giants may be large but they are new to the flock. Chickens are not usually welcoming of newbies, and the newbies may feel threatened. Nests are usually a safe place to sleep when the roosts are occupied by xenophobic chickens.

You can help by closing off the nests and placing a partition on the roosts to separate the original flock from the new ones. I staple a feed bag over the roost as a partition.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

1. How big is the coop in feet, LxW?

2. Are the roosts higher than the nesting boxes?

3. Is there enough head space above the roosts for the hens to be comfortable and also space for their tail feathers not to hit the wall?

 

[Monika S]

Where do you live? Top or lower half of the planet? If you're in the top half, there is too little sunlight for laying hormones to be triggered. After January eggs will appear again.

Your giants may be large but they are new to the flock. Chickens are not usually welcoming of newbies, and the newbies may feel threatened. Nests are usually a safe place to sleep when the roosts are occupied by xenophobic chickens.

You can help by closing off the nests and placing a partition on the roosts to separate the original flock from the new ones. I staple a feed bag over the roost as a partition.

These are on their own. I had one old hen left that took them in pretty well, but she is gone now. That's when they started not roosting.

 

[Monika S]

1. How big is the coop in feet, LxW?

2. Are the roosts higher than the nesting boxes?

3. Is there enough head space above the roosts for the hens to be comfortable and also space for their tail feathers not to hit the wall?

The coop is 6x10. The nesting box is in a bunny hutch, so they have to walk up two ramps (one into the hutch and one into the nesting area) to get into it, whereas the roost is in the coop that is a couple of feet off of the ground with a ramp going in and then the roost is about another 1 1/2 feet off of the coops flooring. End the roost had enough space for 5 chickens before my old one passed. They do squeeze into the nesting box (not really enough space for 4 huge chickens).

 

[Monika S]

Where do you live? Top or lower half of the planet? If you're in the top half, there is too little sunlight for laying hormones to be triggered. After January eggs will appear again.

Your giants may be large but they are new to the flock. Chickens are not usually welcoming of newbies, and the newbies may feel threatened. Nests are usually a safe place to sleep when the roosts are occupied by xenophobic chickens.

You can help by closing off the nests and placing a partition on the roosts to separate the original flock from the new ones. I staple a feed bag over the roost as a partition.

I'm in Wisconsin, but Jersey Giant are supposed to be year-round layers. Even my Australorp laid an occasional egg in the darker months.

 

[azygous]

Did the single old hen die in the presence of the giants? That would explain why they don't want to roost if they witnessed the hen's death. That could cause enough stress to interrupt egg laying, as well.

Over two decades of keeping chickens, I've observed the behavior following a chicken dying in front of them. They are very upset and don't want to sleep in the coop when that's where a chicken died. I need to take special steps to reassure the survivors they are safe. Seems somewhat anthropomorphic but their distress is very real.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It sounds like you have two separate buildings, one for roosting and one for laying. Is that correct?

Are the roosts higher than the nests? Most chickens tend to sleep in the highest spot available. Raising the roost might help if you can.

The way I'd approach this would be to move them from nest to the building that has the roosts and lock them in that building. Force them to spend the night in there. They are creatures of habit, you need to teach them a new habit. This is how I train mine to sleep in the coop I want them to sleep in.

As long as mine are predator safe and not sleeping in a nest I don't care where they sleep. Photos of that coop and roosts might help us to see a reason they are not roosting.

Is the coop too big? No, that is not an issue.

Some chickens get over the molt in about a month. Others can take 4 or 5 months. That is controlled by genetics. I do not know how your Jersey Giants are set up for those genetics.

Some hens start laying when they get over the molt, regardless of the time of the year. Some wait until the longer days of spring to start laying again. Yours should lay well when they do start up again but I cannot tell you when that will be.