| Author |
Barnyard Buddies:  Why won't my Chickens use metal nesting boxes  |
|
|
quiltee
True Blue Farmgirl
7533 Posts
Linda
Terrell
TX
USA
7533 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 28 2014 : 08:58:26 AM
|
HELP! I'm fairly new to chickens, just got my place in the country 4 years ago. I have 3 chickens that I got as chicks in the spring to help with the heavy grasshopper problem - and they did help a lot. They are housed in an 8x8 shed and there are shelves in the shed with a board as a ramp that they use. This fall I bought a used metal 4-box nesting box and the chickens won't use it at all. It is raised about 8 inches off the floor of the shed. Is there a trick to this? I put hay in the boxes.
Plus the chickens STILL seem to like to roost on my porch rocking chairs and table, making a mess of the porch. Is there anything that will deter the chickens from using the porch?
Thanks!
Farmgirl hugs,
Linda O
Lone Oak, TX
Farmgirl #1919 |
|
|
hudsonsinaf
True Blue Farmgirl
3162 Posts
Shannon
Rozet
Wyoming
USA
3162 Posts |
Posted - Dec 28 2014 : 09:30:22 AM
|
I too am fairly new to chickens, so i doubt I will be much help.... but I've been told if you put golf balls in a nesting box, they will brood over them and eventually lay their eggs in there. I know my cousin used that trick when her chickens kept laying in the same nesting box and they would fight over it, lol. Oh to know what chickens are thinking!!!
~ Shannon
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
 |
|
|
oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Dec 28 2014 : 09:51:02 AM
|
metal boxes are cold in the winter and hot in the summer, plus they are used to roosting other places, i.e., your porch...I would build wood boxes and raise them at least 3 feet off the ground...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
|
|
|
quiltee
True Blue Farmgirl
7533 Posts
Linda
Terrell
TX
USA
7533 Posts |
Posted - Dec 28 2014 : 10:23:30 AM
|
Thank you Shannon and Tina. I guess I will need to try wooden boxes.
Farmgirl hugs,
Linda O
Lone Oak, TX
Farmgirl #1919 |
|
|
|
cajungal
True Blue Farmgirl
2349 Posts
Catherine Farmgirl Sister #76
Houston Area
Texas
2349 Posts |
Posted - Dec 28 2014 : 3:38:57 PM
|
Chickens are so funny! After raising upwards of over 800 the last 20 years, I definitely have some stories to tell.
the porch roosting problem... my chickens would do the same thing. I noticed that they would do their wandering in the morning, lay eggs, wander some more and roost in my porch area to clean their feathers and take a rest before their last round of bugs before making it back to the coop. My porch was gross and had to be hosed down every day. That was just more work than I wanted to do. I put a rickety picnic table and benches out in the yard under a tree and started to leave treats on it. They eventually traded over to that spot. We just never used that table....it was "the girls'" table. So, perhaps create a more appealing spot for them.
the nesting box problem... Why chickens fixate on one or two boxes when there are more than enough just baffles me. Sometimes, I have found 3 hens in one all at the same time. I've seen one hen walk around like she was constipated because she was waiting on a particular box. As soon as the other hen hopped out, she hopped in. I guess the thing to assess with your girls is to check where they are laying and what possibly makes that place more appealing. The golf ball trick usually does work just fine, though.
I'm like Shannon...."oh to know what chickens are thinking"
Catherine
Sister #76 (2005)
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt.
|
|
|
|
quiltee
True Blue Farmgirl
7533 Posts
Linda
Terrell
TX
USA
7533 Posts |
Posted - Dec 28 2014 : 3:54:48 PM
|
Thanks, Catherine. You do have some stories.
Sometimes my 3 chickens were on the porch up until midnight, so I don't know if they went back to the coop. I do have an old cable spool I could put in the yard with treats on it. Maybe that would work? As for laying their eggs, one lays on the rocking chair cushion. The other two I have no idea - I never found them. LOL! They sure didn't lay them in the coop.
You've given me some ideas. I'll have to give them a try.
Farmgirl hugs,
Linda O
Lone Oak, TX
Farmgirl #1919 |
|
|
|
cajungal
True Blue Farmgirl
2349 Posts
Catherine Farmgirl Sister #76
Houston Area
Texas
2349 Posts |
Posted - Dec 28 2014 : 4:07:51 PM
|
The wooden spool will probably work. One thing that may fix all the problems is that you have some way to close them up in the coop at night. It's important for them in several ways....it 'teaches' them that this is home, it teaches that it's a safe place to go if a hawk comes flying over, it can teach them to lay eggs in the boxes and it protects them from predators at night. And it definitely keeps them from roosting on your porch at night because they'll be locked up.
You may need to keep them locked in the coop for a couple of days to help them imprint on it.
I've seen coops with small electric mechanical doors that open and close on a timer. I've never been so smart in that department so I still open the coop in the morning and close it in the evening. I got frustrated one year because the hens were laying eggs on the ground and hiding them. Very frustrating. I hated reaching in under a bush for fear of being bitten by a snake. So, I put the hens on a schedule. I can't promise that it'll work but it does work for me....
....I give a morning ration of feed/seeds and leave them locked up until mid-morning. They are usually done laying their eggs by then. I open the coop, they forage around all day,the ones that didn't lay earlier meander back to the nest boxes, later they all go back to the coop at sundown and I go close the coop up when I do my last check on all the animals around 7:00.
Catherine
Sister #76 (2005)
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt.
|
|
|
|
quiltee
True Blue Farmgirl
7533 Posts
Linda
Terrell
TX
USA
7533 Posts |
Posted - Dec 28 2014 : 6:45:41 PM
|
I've had them locked in the pen for 3 weeks and when I let them out Christmas Eve they immediately went to the table on the porch. LOL! And no eggs, so I guess it is too cold here now. Mine don't seem to go in the coop at any special time in the evening. When I first got them, they went in at dusk. Then about 2 months ago they started staying on the porch until way after dark. I have another larger penned area that I am going to try to find someone to put a chicken wire top on. It is surrounded by the approx 5" square farm fencing and has a large lean-to in it. All it needs is a fate and a top. They already like to go into that lean-to, so hopefully that will be a better place for them. That is, when I can get it fixed up.
Thanks, again - lots of good ideas.
Farmgirl hugs,
Linda O
Lone Oak, TX
Farmgirl #1919 |
|
|
|
cajungal
True Blue Farmgirl
2349 Posts
Catherine Farmgirl Sister #76
Houston Area
Texas
2349 Posts |
Posted - Dec 29 2014 : 04:28:21 AM
|
Oh my goodness, you certainly have tried just about everything. They REALLY love your porch!
Catherine
Sister #76 (2005)
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt.
|
|
|
| |
Barnyard Buddies: Why won't my Chickens use metal nesting boxes |
|
Why won't my Chickens use metal nesting boxes
