When do chickens start to roost?

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blumatablo

blumatablo

In the Brooder
7 Years
Aug 1, 2012
35
0
34
I have have a roost that my older chickens use but my young ones can't jump up to it. They sometimes sit on the edge of the nesting boxes. Will they eventually use the roost?
 
Mine would try to roost in the brooder and fall off when they went to sleep. Put them in the coop at 4 weeks and they still slept huddled in the floor till the weather warmed up. They were probably two to three months old before they actually started sleeping on the roosts.
 
Mine roosted at 2 weeks on a board I set up on bricks in the brooder. When they moved outside to the coop at 4 weeks they immediately jumped from the low (18") to the high (36") roosts. When I let them out into the run a few days later, they were hopping up again on anything they could, and their highest roost was about 4 feet off the ground.

Maybe temperature was the difference for me? It was July when they moved outside.

Could it be that the older hens aren't willing to share? Is it possible to install a second, possibly lower, roost?
 
Mine are supposedly four weeks old (not sure how I feel about that) and they can fly pretty good, tonight for the first time they flew to the top of the run and were sleeping on the rafters. Had to get them down and put back cause the one smaller 2 week old chick was freaking out!!!

So, I don't know the answer to your question, but both of mine were up there.
 
Yes, they will eventually want to roost at night, but the age at which they start seems to vary quite a bit. Right now I have a flock of special ed bantams that are still sleeping in a pile on the floor at 11 weeks of age. The other 5 flocks I raised were all on a roost at night by 6 weeks.
 
They usually start roosting at 5-8 weeks old. And the reason they can't hop onto it is because it maybe to high what I would do is put it at 4 inches high and if that still to high put it slanted so the top is 4 inches from the ground and the other side is on the ground or wherever but don't worry your rooster will eventually roost just be patient and Welcome to BYC!!
 
ive raised thousands of chicks, and if given a roost way way down on their level after a week old during the day they would roost and live on the perch's and only got down on ground at night lol, this was winter time,in summer, they stayed on the roosts more then the ground lol, makes em feel like "big boys"
 
Thanks

Also my oldest chick hopped on the big roost today for about three seconds. They've been roosting on the edge of the nesting box and last night one of them fell behind it and I didn't know where she went!
 
My two week olds have taken to roosting on top of the waterer. I think it's a competition to be "top chick." I just wish they would quit pooping in the water.
sickbyc.gif
I guess I need to make them a proper roost.
 

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