What shall I do?

[Momto3]

Not really sure what to do regarding my chickens. So they are all roughly 21-22wks old. They will NOT roost at night, instead they all huddle into the corner. I have placed them on the roost since they were little and yet they just wont do it. They even have a roost in the run an they don't really care for that one either. Now a few of my girls are starting to lay and they are laying in the corners of the coop. They wont hop up into the nest box. Should I lower the nest box or put like a milk crate on the floor or what? Will they ever roost?

 

[Momto3]

Oh I should mention that the roost & nest box are roughly 25-30inches.

 

[pgpoultry]

What breed are they? My Brahmas have not and will never roost as they are too heavy.I have 2 pens with large huddles of Brahmas on the floor and other breeds perching above.

Are the perches at the right height,are they thick enough and of a material that the chickens can grip on to?

Maybe provide some other access to the nest boxes for now and put fake eggs in there to encourage them to use the boxes.

 

[Momto3]

Quote:
I have 1 barred rock, 1 easter egger, 1 austrolorp & 2 red sex links. The roost is made of 1x2 with sanded corners. I am not sure what height I need to have the roost & nest box at, I think that might be part of my problem. My coop is 4x6, we converted the end of our shed. My husband made the nest box, more like a nest shelf. lol It is HUGE!!! We are going to change it tomorrow. That is why I cam here to see just what I should do. I have 5 chickens do I only need 1 decent size nest box? Oh I do have 2 plastic egg in their nest box and I have placed them all up there.

 

[gale65]

Seems weird that none of them will get on the roost. Is it secure? Or does it wobble? Maybe it's too small. Ours is 2 x 4 sitting with the skinny side up and I may have dh add a 2 x 4 with the fat side up for winter. Our roost is probably at least 30" tall and all of ours (including australorps, EEs and red sex links) started getting on it around 6 or 7 weeks.

eta: might have been closer to 7 or 8 weeks. They are 9.5 weeks now and it seems like they've been all up there for a couple of weeks now.

 

[tasha82]

do they have to lay in nest boxes??mine keeps llaying in a cardboard box i just put ontop of my vegs patch,so cos she slikes that i didnt throw it away,xx

 

[so lucky]

Maybe if you use a 2x4, with wide side up, and place it a little lower. I also had to put a step-up in the coop, a big stump, so they could have a place to launch from. You probably need to make sure the roost is not too close to the wall, too. Our nest boxes are lower than the roost, only about a foot off the floor.

 

[Mommy2Blaze]

Ok, mine do the same exact thing. We use a 2x2 as a roost and it is 14 inches off the floor then another at 24 and another at 36. They all huddle in the corner in a dog pile to sleep. Our nest boxes are 12 inches off the floor on the other side of the coop with a 2x2 roost in front of them for ease of jumping in. I think we are going to the woods today to get a big branch with a few offshoots to see if they like the natural stuff better.

 

[Nicole01]

My girls will not roost either. Ages 14-21 weeks approx. I had Hubby widen the roosts to 10 and 12 inches. They all huddle in the corner where the two roosts meet. I have the wide roost 2 feet off the ground.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

1X2 is too small. They need a minimum of 2" width. I use 2X4s. They may feel they're too flimsy. Primarily they need to be that wide for winter so they can cover their toes with their feathers.
They don't really need roosts in the run, about the only time they rest during the day is to dust bathe.
That's not a bad height for the roosts but maybe too high for the nests.
I keep my nests entrances about 6" above bedding. Eventually they'll roost and when they do if nests are too high they'll sleep in them rather than on roosts.