14 weeks old - sleeping in a pile like puppies

[meowmmy65]

How weird is this? My coop has an "upstairs" and "downstairs." Upstairs is accessed via a ladder/plank and the chickens can go up there any time they want. That's where the nesting boxes and roost are. Downstairs is open to the ground, but enclosed with chicken wire.

In the evening, we let the girls run around our fenced in yard. They always put themselves to bed when it gets dark, and I close up the coop. Every night, they pile up in a corner inside the downstairs part of the coop and go to sleep. I swear, it's just like a pile of puppies.

Right now, I'm assuming they stay downstairs because of the heat. It's definitely cooler than upstairs. Anybody else having a similar experience?

 

[speckledegg]

My girls will do this during the day and they did do it at night until I showed them where the roost was upstairs. After a couple of nights of putting them in the upper part of their tractor, they do it by themselves now. It hasn't been hot here though so yours know where the upstairs is, they could definitely be staying down below to stay cool!

 

[dancingsquirrel]

Ours do this in the daytime when it's hot as blazes! We let them out to free range and often find them all in a pile under the bushes.

 

[pgpoultry]

It's pretty chilly here and my adult birds sleep in the corners in heaps in spite of ledges, perches etc (A few, but only a few, choose to perch).

It seems to be some chickens like the floor and company.

 

[katchley7595]

i have 12 silies bout the same age.they wont go in until i turn on thier light,they pile up in corner,when i turn it on they wait for the bugs have a snack,then go to bed

 

[FarmCoe]

Mine do it all the time! Isn't it cute?!

 

[katchley7595]

i think so. i was wondering when they would stop,i'm worried they will hurt the ones on bottom

 

[tags]

My 17 week old girls still like to sleep in a puppy pile some of the time, although they are starting to spend more time on their roosts.

 

[Pkeith1998]

I have an "upstairs" and "downstairs" too and I finally got my girls to roost last night instead of laying on the ground! I just kept putting them back upstairs every time I went in to visit them and after a few nights, they figured it out! So proud of them!

Keep working on it and they'll get the hang of it!

 

[Wildflower_VA]

My six girls are 24 weeks old, all are laying, but they still sleep in a pile in the corner of the coop. The Top Hen sleeps on the roost over top of the pile of her underling sisters on the ground. They are frequently on the roosts, but not to sleep. I figure they would use the roosts to sleep if they were more comfortable than on the ground.