I finally solved my problem of the chickens roosting in their nest box. Last summer I remodeled the inside of my chicken coop and placed some new nest boxes inside. I made nest boxes out of the ends of plastic barrels and screwed them to the wall. The nest boxes were placed either at level or above their roost. At the same time I released a new batch of RIR hens to run with the brown leghorns that I already had. Immediately all the RIR hens started roosting on the nest boxes. I figured it was cause the bossy little leghorns were making them roost there. I kept going in at dusk and shooing the RIR off the nest and making them roost with the leghorns. After months of doing this I would always still have 2 or 3 still doing it and eventually the brown leghorns started roosting on the nest boxes also. So I got to figuring that maybe they was doing it cause some of the nest boxes are higher than the roost. So a few days ago I lowered all the nest boxes half the distants from the roost to the ground floor. Putting them at about 2' to 2 1/2' up off the floor. And now so far, NO MORE ROOSTING ON THE NEST BOXES!

So why do I still have the desire to choke my chickens? Cause now when I go out in the morning to open up the pen to let them free range, I have to rake up all the straw hay and place it back in the nest boxes. ARRRRRHA! Every morning now for some reason they get in the nest boxes and scratch all the hay out of them. I rake it all back up and place it back in the nest boxes so they can lay their eggs.

Somebody hand me a gun!

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), February 06, 2002

Answers

At first I couldn't believe that someone would make a post about the apparent subject line you gave to your post only to find out you're talking about poultry!

Make the boxes a bit deeper and a lot darker and they'll probably stop scratching the hay out.

.........Alan.

-- Alan (athagan@atlantic.net), February 06, 2002.

I'm not touching this one! LOL!

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), February 06, 2002.

I use to use hay too. They did the same thing to me. I changed to wood shavings. Problem solved. Ray The Farm

-- Ray (thecfarm@midmaine.com), February 06, 2002.

Hi RH boy do you know how to make everones day ha ha he he rotfl Bob se,ks.

-- Bobco (bobco@kans.com), February 06, 2002.

--r.h, The first one in to lay likes to scratch around and "personalise" her nest because that's where she intends to raise her family. If there is nothing to keep it in , she will kick out all the nest material. Put a 4" or 6" board across the bottom of the barrels. If that doesn't work, think Darwin - go ahead and choke 'em.

-- Griff in OR (griff@hangnail.com), February 06, 2002.

Griff, they do this between the time the automatic light comes on and when I make it out there to turn them loose soon after daylight. It usually isn't til an hour or so after turning loose before the first hen ventures back to the coop to lay the first egg of the day.

Excuse me! What did you say Mitch, speak up I couldn't hear you! LOL

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), February 06, 2002.

If you got some new bales of straw with lots of seeds on the stems, the chickens go crazy getting all the seeds. My chickens will destroy a popped open bale of straw they find if it has tops on the stems. Just like grain to them.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), February 06, 2002.

Cindy I am taking that into consideration as I put all new straw hay in their nest boxes. With your confirmation I beleive that is the reason they are doing that. Thank you.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), February 06, 2002.