My young 'chicks' don't roost on their own at night. The new rooster is 14 wks and the other 4 are 7 wks old. I go out and put them up on the roost when its almost dark. I check them about 1/2 hour later and they're still up. But the next night when I check them they're all on the ground. Will they learn?
Roosting
How high is the roost? If it is very high they won't even try. Give them something close to the ground and gradually raise it as they grow. How big around or across is it? That makes a difference too. Babies seem to prefer broad flat surfaces to start with.
It's not very high, only about 7 or 8 inches up. They use it during the day. And they get up on a 'perch' that's a couple feet up, outside of the shelter, during the day. It's not very thick, maybe that's the problem. Thanks, I'll give that a try.
Mine are just a tad bit older than yours, and it's just been in the last couple of weeks that they've all been roosting. For a long time, some of them would stay on the ground at night. I wouldn't worry too much about them.
Melissa, do you have experience with older chickens also, or are these your first ones? I have one older hen that won't be 'friends' with these other ones. She had a hen friend that we got together with her that has disappeared - I think a hawk - because there isn't anything left of her, just a few feathers. It's been a number of wks. The two were seldom seen apart, just when they were laying their eggs. They took turns using the same nest box. I'm hoping she 'excepts' the rooster so I can get some young from her - she's a Plymouth Barred Rock. Would it help to put the rooster in with her when it's dark so they wake up together? That was suggested to me.
If you put him in with her, he'll eventually have his way. There may be a lot of squawking and bickering for a while, but she will eventually accept his advances and just deal with it. Sometimes a couple of weeks before the tension dies down. No romance, just business.
Ok, I guess I'll have to be patient. Thanks
I also had a few who didn't roost. I put my girls up on the roost after they went to sleep for a few days and they got it eventually :) It has been suggested to be by a local breeder that 2 x 4 s turned the narrow way make the best roosts, not round roosts. Maybe that will help.
Yes, I'll have to try something a little wider and see if that helps. Thanks every one for your input.
Just a thought. My father's chicken house had a roost over a platform. Do not remember the specifics about what the actual roost was made of, but seems like long one by ones, with a platform underneath. This whole rig was in the back of the henhouse and between three and four feet up from the floor! All the hens and rooster managed to get up there. The nest boxes ran along one wall at about two feet. Perhaps they started by jumping up on top of those, then up to the higher level, but they went up. This may have been a safeguard from predators, making it so high. But, it worked. I think we all worry too much about things we are learning. The turkeys even went up on the two by fours up under the roof. Much to my dismay, when my mother sent me down to fetch an egg for something she was baking, and a turkey hen dropped a load right on top of my eleven year old head, just after having my hair washed!!!!! Not a great morning for me! LOL! BAM
We are putting a "droppings pit" under our roosts. If we cover that area with wire, the hens won't be able to pick around in that poopy litter and the rest of the coop will stay much cleaner: we can scoop out the "pit" every month right into a wheelbarrow (the coop is raised) and it is wonderful concentrated stuff for manure tea or composting.