[NorthEssexsmallholding]

I only got my hens less than a week ago, they have 2 perches running the length of the shed both at about 2 feet high, at the far end theres a nest box on a shelf, so the nest box sides are about a foot above the perch.  Most of them roost on the perches but theres a couple of hens that are perching on the nest box and in the morning its always dirty inside the nest box.

How do I deter them from doing this or is it just something you can't do anything about?.

cheers then

[Sylvia]

Put gorse branches on top of the nest-boxes, tacked down if neccessary. That'll prickle their bums

[Sylvia]

Forgot to say, are the perches comfortable i.e. no sharp edges (A rub down with coarse sandpaper will do) Also are they too far off the ground and/or too close together. I would put perches no more than a foot- eighteen inches off the ground and a good eighteen inches apart.

[SallyintNorth]

Also, what is the circumference of the perches?  I used to use 2x2 with the square edges planed off.

[Dizzycow]

Mine still do it. They now have a separate nest box which they lay in once they've been let out in the morning.

[tazbabe]

i added some newbies to the gang, and they did that, they were very overweight and i thought they couldnt get up to the perch, so i added a new perch just a couple of inches off the floor. it worked to a degree, but one of the girls still insists on perching on the edge of one of the nest boxes, have to clean it out every morning.

[NorthEssexsmallholding]

my perches are 2x1 1/2, sometimes they go on the perches but a couple always end up on the edge of the nest box, maybe because its higher, might put some gorse on there then to deter them as every day I end up cleaning out the top of the nest box.

[Sandy]

I have rounded off 2x2 perches and thats where they perch, I used to use my old draws for nesting box's but they now nest in some very dry soil in another run that also is always dry and I sprinkle in bits of laylandi that drop around the garden so NOW the eggs are clean and not poooooey!!!!! Hens poo on everything!

[wellywearer]

Blimey Sandy! You had me worried there for a moment, I mis read that.... "old draws" for dusters maybe but nest boxes?!

PS my 18yr old asked me what I was giggling about and pronounced me "sad" !

[doganjo]

Blimey Sandy! You had me worried there for a moment, I mis read that.... "old draws" for dusters maybe but nest boxes?!

PS my 18yr old asked me what I was giggling about and pronounced me "sad" !

I think it's a regional dialects.  Where I come from they are called 'chests of drawers' not draws.

[gem]

simple solution..... buy or build yourself some of these 

[Sandy]

My "draws" come out of my "chest of draws"!!! I have removed them now, so no draws  they got full of poo!!!

[wellywearer]

We tried all sots of ways to stop the chooks from roosting in the nest boxes (always the same culprits!) and built boxes exactly like Gem's but they just roosted on the "lip" at the front of the entrance - facing outwards, pooing in !! Arggg! Decided in the end not to stess over it and just selectively clean each morning .... life is short and full bigger worries!! 

[Sandy]

Like I said, it came to me one day in the forest, why not collect dry leaves etc for the nesting material? so now I do and they all nest on the floor of a very dry run in a little hole, its a bit more tricky getting the eggs but they stay clean whereas all the other ways I tried, I ended up with dirty eggs!!!!!! My Duck always layed on the ground and her eggs were always nice and clean, that gave me the idea....no more box or draws for me