about 9 week old chicks sleeping in the same roosting box?

[abby1371]

alright, so our chickens move into their coop a few weeks ago and we're noticing and interesting pattern, all 9 chicks sleep together in the same roosting box! Is this like normal chicken behavior? cause i am not sure.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Yes for that age. They will go up to the roosting bar eventually- may take another month or two even. Some will roost at that age buy I have had plenty of chicks who waited.

 

[chckn farm]

I've got 16 that will be 9 weeks old tomorrow and all are trying to sleep in one nesting box so I was wondering the same thing

 

[abby1371]

thanks for the info! i didn't know this due to it being my first time owning chickens thanks for your help!

 

[azygous]

I have four chicks that just turned four weeks Monday of this week. They have been going into the coop all by themselves for several days now, and they've been sleeping together in a nest box that's on the floor. Tonight I tried to get them interested in roosting. I spent five minutes putting them on the perch, and replacing them when they would hop down. I finally had them all on the perch, having placed them close together touching each other at the end close to the wall, just the way new chicks like it at first.

I finished up chores and went back to see if they were still on the perch. I was not a bit surprised to see they had all resumed their places in the nest box on the floor.

I will try again tomorrow. It usually doesn't take many nights of showing them the perch for them to get the idea. But I never know until they actually start roosting. Every bunch of chicks is different.

You might try placing yours on the perch. I've had chicks catch on the very first night. Those were my Brahmas.

 

[Blooie]

My Brahmas were the same way. Wonder if they don't like getting their little feathered feet full of overnight poo?

Edited - guess I'd better add that that was tongue-in-cheek. Had a problem with one-liners lately!

 

[azygous]

No chicken minds poopy feet! If only! That's the only bad thing about feather-footed fleets. And they also tend toward dimpled foot pads, to further make poopy feet a problem. They do require diligent foot care. Also, because of their ponderous size, Brahmas and Cochins prefer low perches, often reaching their later years only after losing many of their talon nails trying to hop down from high places.

My one remaining Brahma, seven-year old Light Brahma Lady Di, has no nails left, and she remains on her perch, when she can even make it up there, until I lift her down in the morning.

They do tend to be early roosters because I believe there is a much larger chicken brain in those impressive heads of theirs.

 

[Blooie]

I'll keep that in mind about the lower roosts Azygous. We did put one down a bit lower when the Littles and Tinys were learning to roost - it's up about 2 feet. Maybe we'll just leave that in there. Not sure about the extra foot care. I'm ashamed to admit that's something I didn't think about when I so desperately wanted Brahmas. But they sure are docile, even at this early age. I think I'm going to like having them a lot.