Hi there, got 3 girls about 10 days ago, 1 of them sleeps on the perch every night, the other 2 will sleep in the nest box if I let them. I've been blocking it off so now they just sleep on the floor in front of the perches. With time, will the 2 floor sleepers get the hang of the perch? They are all red shavers, 23 weeks old, just started laying eggs. The perch is definitely the highest thing they can sleep on, definitely higher than the nest box. We were away for the weekend, and although they laid their eggs in the nest box all sweet, I konw they were sleeping there as there was some poo in the nest boxes. With the layout of my coop, it's a bit hard to place the 2 floor sleepers on the perches (they are a bit far for me to reach). Any ideas or you think with time I should keep blocking off the nest box at night and opening for business in the morning and eventually they'll get the idea of sleeping on the perch. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
My girls have never slept on a roost. They prefer a shelf somewhere near the top of the coop. They were like that from day one and I just decided to let it go. It creates a little work for me as I have to rake off the poop each morning and put fresh straw down. But I don't mind. So, I wouldn't worry about it. And if you want them out of the nest boxes at night, you could try putting a shelf in the coop. In general, chickens do like to be up high when they sleep. Good luck.
