young flock attacking new pullet - help please

nellybly · **Joined:** Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:49 pm **Posts:** 18

County Lodge wrote:

HI Nellybly,

Silkies don't roost unless you have a very low roost. They can't fly. More often than not they will sleep crowded together in the nesting box. Just means you will need to clen the nesting boxes daily. :-?

Hi CL

Thanks for this info, I do have a low roost as I know they can't fly, but they dont seem to use it.

Glad that it is not unusual for them all to sleep in the nesting box together as I was beginning to worry this was a problem.

What happens when they start to lay though???

County Lodge · **Posted:** Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:53 am

That's why you need to keep the boxes fairly clean. As they sleep in them they tend to poo in there as well. Makes the eggs dirty. I think you will find they tend to sleep together in t he one box if you only have a couple or three of four. The hens then tend to lay in the cleaner box if you offer them a couple of nesting boxes. You could try putting them on the roost at night for a couple of nights. Mine don't like the roost they prefer the nesting box. I just clean them every day so they aren't too bad.

greenaus · **Posted:** Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:11 pm

The moulting ex-battery (or whatever) hens I got several weeks ago sleep in the nesting box. I gave up going down after work at night, pushing them out and covering the entry. They had been sleeping all in one of the four nests.

If you remember the photos of my toy box-to-nesting box, you could imagine how squeezed in they were.

That was fine as eggs were being laid in the clean nests.

However, the result of me letting them do that is that last night when I checked, they were sleeping in two nests and two of the black bantams were sleeping in another.

"If they can do it, so can we."

Though, I have often seen one of those two sitting in that nest at various times throughout the day.

Whether she is thinking of going broody or not, I'm not giving her any eggs.

The nesting box is just inches of the ground whereas the roosts range from about 60-120cm and there is plenty of space, so it's not an issue of the toybox being higher or there being insufficient space.

I think the moulters slept wherever they wanted before I got them and the bantams are copying their bad example.

County Lodge · **Posted:** Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:19 pm

You could be right greenaus.

I only have silkies that sleep in the nesting box. All other chooks use their roost like good little chookies should. I have a roost in the silkie pen with three roost at different levels and easy for them to climb up further than the first roost if they want to but only one little silkie and the sussex uses the roost. The rest also sleep in the nesting boxes. I just clean themout in the morning hopefully before anyone starts laying.

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