6-8 week old chickes not roosting

[Johnms2021]

Hello all,

New member here. I have a question about roosting. We moved the chickens out of the brooding box to the coop at 6 weeks. I have 2 roosting bars in the coop but they seem to all congregate right at the chicken door opening when they go to the coop at night. They don't seem to be making their way to the roosting bars. My speculation is that they cant see. They go into the coop at dusk but in the coop at that time is very dark. Is there a light I can put in the coop that is subtle that wont effect their day/night cycle but will also allow them to navigate the coop? Or do I just need to be more patient and wait for them to find their way there?

Any advise would be amazing. Thanks for your help!

John

 

[Starburst]

How big are your roosts?

 

[RobertaD1]

I have never had this trouble as I have always had older hens to show younger ones the way to do things... BUT, I have seen where many people "show" their chicks to roost by literally putting them onto their roost. Go out after they have gone in for the evening, and setting each one on the roost. It may take a few nights, but they eventually get it.

 

[annampet]

A picture of your set up will be helpful. As long as they can get to the roosts, they might just need some help figuring them out.
After they are in the coop and it's just after dark, I would go out and place them all on the roosts. You may need to do this for a few days and then they'll start figuring it out for themselves.

 

[loohoo]

We don't have older ones to teach ours how to roost, so at night I put them up on their roosts myself. I've read on here that they eventually will figure it out for themselves but doing this can help speed up the process.

 

[Starburst]

I just had a problem with my older hens refusing to roost on the roosts of my new coop. At dusk, I put them on the roosts for a couple of nights and they have begun to roost on their own. However, if you have a lot of chickens, that may be difficult. If you are concerned about lighting, you could put battery-operated twinkle-lights inside for soft lighting if it is not too cold. If you have electricity in your coop, you could probably put a light in there as well.

 

[Johnms2021]

Hello all,

New member here. I have a question about roosting. We moved the chickens out of the brooding box to the coop at 6 weeks. I have 2 roosting bars in the coop but they seem to all congregate right at the chicken door opening when they go to the coop at night. They don't seem to be making their way to the roosting bars. My speculation is that they cant see. They go into the coop at dusk but in the coop at that time is very dark. Is there a light I can put in the coop that is subtle that wont effect their day/night cycle but will also allow them to navigate the coop? Or do I just need to be more patient and wait for them to find their way there?

Any advise would be amazing. Thanks for your help!

John

How big are your roosts?

Can’t believe I got all these responses so quick. Looking through all of them now. They are staggered. So one is 20 inches and the other is 36 inches

 

[Johnms2021]

A picture of your set up will be helpful. As long as they can get to the roosts, they might just need some help figuring them out.
After they are in the coop and it's just after dark, I would go out and place them all on the roosts. You may need to do this for a few days and then they'll start figuring it out for themselves.

I just posted some pictures. I feel like they might all stay by the chicken door before I close it because it’s still a little bit light there. But I’m not sure.

 

[Starburst]

If you could send a picture, that would greatly help

 

[Starburst]

Oops, just saw your message above