Chickens Do Not Roost

[esilverstein]

My 11 chickens who are 4 months old have yet to roost. They huddle together in a corner of my "Chicken Palace" even though there is plenty of room on a thick wooden dowel only 2 feet off the floor. Will they ever start to roost? I'm been told that they could develop foot and feather problems by being on the floor so long and rubbing against each other so often.

 

[Stacykins]

Some chickens are slow learners. And apparently some breeds like silkies never like to roost.

If you want to give them a bit of a boost in their learning, you could sneak into the coop after dark and put each one on a roost. They'll stay since they can't see, and when they wake up in the morning on the roost, it may give them the idea to go back on! I have chickens of a few ages in my coop, and the younger ones always learn from the older ones within a day or so how to roost. Then again, I did make a small roost in my brooder so the babies, once they get their balance a few days after hatch, always preferred to roost rather than sit on the ground and sleep.

 

[chicken-whisperer]

In years past I have placed young chickens on the roosts to show them how it is done ( it didn't help ) next I put an older hen in, who roosted right away but the just ignored her. Now the littlins decide when they want to and some take a month or two longer than others. They dont damage each other by cuddling and even the late roosters have no foot issues.

 

[angie3881]

My chickens are between 4 and 5 months. Some of them roost and some of them huddle in the corner like yours do. They are funny. One of my girls is blind and she always stays in the corner except to eat, drink, lay and get her daily lovings from me or my daughter. (We think she sees shadows and has excellent hearing because she does stumble to the nesting box on the other side of the coop.) It is funny though, because at night 2 roosters and 3 other chickens huddle around her and that is where they sleep. Maybe they are protecting her?

I, too, have plenty of roosting places and they just don't seem interested in it.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Duplicate thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=7260673#p7260673