Chicken roosting behavior

[RojoMarz]

I think the OP is saying they will roost in the coop, but will not perch on the ladder perch/roost that is in the run.

My girls love to lay in the dirt, perch on the stairs, stand on their perch and will sometimes even perch on the perch.

 

[aart]

I think the OP is saying they will roost in the coop, but will not perch on the ladder perch/roost that is in the run.

That was my interpretation also.

 

[centrarchid]

Then look at the dimensions of pieces as this might be where the birds are showing a preference.

 

[neo71665]

I'd flip those 2x6s flat. My roost bars are 2x4s flat and my big RIR roo has no problems sleeping on it. In the coop I have a ton of cedar limbs for them to play on and they all perch on those. Mine don't sleep in the run at night, they might nap out there during the day.

But yeah are we talking about day time perching or night time roosting?

 

[3KillerBs]

I think chickens just like to sit on the ground sometimes.

It's intermittently raining today, but instead of going into the coop, sitting in the pine straw under the pavilion where it's dry, sitting on or under the pallet-on-blocks, perching on the in-pen roost, or even hiding from the rain under the overturned plastic lawn chairs they've scraped out a hollow in a pile of rain-on pine straw and are cuddled up together in the drizzle.

I remind myself that they know better how to chicken than I do so there must be a reason I don't understand.

 

[Stefrrr]

I think the OP is saying they will roost in the coop, but will not perch on the ladder perch/roost that is in the run.

My girls love to lay in the dirt, perch on the stairs, stand on their perch and will sometimes even perch on the perch.

Yep, that’s it. The Easter eggers will perch but the others just sit on the ground. If it’s preference, that’s fine. I just want to be sure that I’m providing the kind of perch they’d WANT to hang out on during the day.
I’m going to try swapping one out to see if they like a wider/deeper perch.

 

[Stefrrr]

I think chickens just like to sit on the ground sometimes.

It's intermittently raining today, but instead of going into the coop, sitting in the pine straw under the pavilion where it's dry, sitting on or under the pallet-on-blocks, perching on the in-pen roost, or even hiding from the rain under the overturned plastic lawn chairs they've scraped out a hollow in a pile of rain-on pine straw and are cuddled up together in the drizzle.

I remind myself that they know better how to chicken than I do so there must be a reason I don't understand.

Good reminder.

 

[KarynVA]

They probably just don't want to roost while they are outdoors. I don't think roosts/ perches are really necessary in a run.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Are my chickens dummies, or is there something undesirable about these roosts? The roosts are under a roof inside the netting-covered run. It’s helpful for shade and keeping them out of the rain, but they don’t seem to care for the (1x2”ish) roosts and just hang out on the ground. This outdoor roost thing was here when we bought the house.

All of these chickens roost at night in their coop just fine On 2x6s narrow side up. Are the roost bars too narrow or thin? Should I pull them off and replace them with something else?
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I have some roosts in my chicken run. They do not use them as roosts for the night. They will stand up on them and hold court. I have some pallets they like to get up on. I made them a ladder to get up on. I have some stumps sitting in the run that like to stand on.