Chicken won’t perch?

[JNC]

I have an only chicken that is very friendly. It knows to fly to my forearm and perch on it. Other than that it doesn’t really perch. I already put a stick outside so it could perch there but for some reason it prefers to sit right in front of our door or sunbathe in the middle of the yard. In her house I have a stick so it can perch on but she decided it would be a good idea to dig a hole in the insulation and huddle in there. It definitely knows to perch because it perches on my arm all the time and if you hold any stick out it flies to it immediately. I don’t mind just checking to make sure it’s nothing bad or harmful.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Chickens are social animals. They also use each other for comfort and staying warm. Since she doesn't have that, she needs to find other ways to stay warm and be comfortable. I recommend getting another chicken or two so she stays away from being lonely and/or depressed.

 

[JNC]

Chickens are social animals. They also use each other for comfort and staying warm. Since she doesn't have that, she needs to find other ways to stay warm and be comfortable. I recommend getting another chicken or two so she stays away from being lonely and/or depressed.

We were gonna get her a friend but they wouldn’t sell us less than 6. I have a friend that a few weeks ago hatched out chicks and might let us borrow one. Do you think that’s a good idea? How do I know if my chicken feels lonely?

 

[rosemarythyme]

As far as roosting at night (which is different from perching), it's instinctive but chickens that can learn it from other chickens tend to do it earlier. Since you don't have older chickens to teach her, you'll need to show her by manually placing her on her roost at night until she learns that that's where she sleeps.

And if you're planning to add a new chicken or two, keep in mind that while chickens are social animals, they're also territorial, so you need to have an integration plan in mind. Tossing them together and hoping they'll be friends often doesn't work.

 

[Backyardchickenmama6]

This works for my chickens so they never liked perching either I’m not even on my arm so what I did is I would treats place them up on their perch and they would sit there and eat the treats all alone or with your friends and now they want to perch