How do I get my chickens to use the perch?

[grandmaof5]

You don't say where you live, but if it is cold in winter, make sure the roost (not perch, btw...chickens sort of sit on their feet, not wrap their toes around like a budgie) is wide enough so they can get thier whole foot on the roost and then sit on their feet to keep them warm. The wide side of a 2x4 is perfect.

I used to wonder if my girls would ever roost, but eventually one went up one evening and after that, another followed. Soon, they were all lined up like birds on a telephone wire...one thing I thought helped was that I would turn the light off in the coop (if you have one out there) but leave the window open so light from our porch went in; that made the coop itself a bit darker but they could still see to jump (yep, mine jump up about 2 1/2 feet to it) to the roost.

 

[heath_elisha]

We put in another roost in the coop, at the same height as the other well used roost. Seems not to have helped yet. We have tried moving them at night from the nest boxes to the roost and I am not certain they stay there after we leave. Hoping they will just grow up and do what the big birds do. The young ones are about 19 weeks old now..... would be nice to have some clean nest boxes for when they start laying eggs!

 

[Wini]

I'm going to try this I have made some great changes to their coop but don't care to much for the new perch They need to learn since I have the new ones under a lamp in the nest at night Yeah they are all a little mad at me right now but they AREN'T beating up the babies so everything is going well latel

 

[clkjohn]

Mine are two months old and have been in their new coop 5 days they are just going up the ladder and I close the door and leave them alone I'm
Sure they will figure it out

 

[LeGardenChicken]

My 10 week old chicks sit on there perch in the day but at night they go into the nesting boxes