My nine week old hens will not roost. They go up and down the ladder no problem, but they choose to sleep in the run instead (it's a three sided coop and open run). They huddle together in a corner. I've been putting them in the roost area at night after dark, but they seem to be incapable of doing it on their own.
Should I be concerned? It's a well protected coop, but it seems odd that they aren't roosting even after three weeks out there.
Should I be concerned? It's a well protected coop, but it seems odd that they aren't roosting even after three weeks out there.
Young layers often take a few days of laying before they figure out the nest box is the best place for eggs. Many of 'em are startled by the need to lay an egg and drop their first few eggs wherever it happened. "Buh-bawk! An egg fell out of my butt! How odd!" And off they go, after laying their eggs on the coop floor, in the run, maybe in a corner of the coop. Even after they start laying IN the nest boxes, they'll still announce the now-familiar event after they get out of the nest and go on their merry ways. 
