davidbaggaley
In the Brooder
- Aug 28, 2019
- 2
- 13
- 14
Hi everyone
This is my first post in the forum after being able to find plenty of advice on this forum over the past 2 years since owning chickens.
When I first purchased my hens, I had a simple coop where as the hens walked in, they effectively walked onto the perches which were just above ground level (which was a giant tray that could be pulled out and bedding cleaned). No jumping was required as they basically stepped onto the perches. At night, all the chickens slept on the perches and not in the nest box and all was good.
I've recently upgraded the coop to a larger on and the perches are now approx. 2ft off the ground. So as they walk in, it's just bedding and they can walk all around but have to hop up onto the perches.
The problem I have is that at night, all the chickens happily go into the new coop but all settle down to sleep on the floor.
For the past 2 weeks, I've gone out every night, and carefully picked each chicken up and placed them on the perch to encourage the right behaviour. I've gone out each morning and they are all still up on the perch so must be happy. They each hop down independently when the door is opened so again, this is no problem.
There are two roost bars at the same height and plenty of space.
Is it just a matter of time establishing the new routing or is there anything else I can try or has anyone else had a similar issue. I'm afraid that as we all know, chickens are creatures of habit, and they are now happy waiting for me to come out at night and lift them up which they see as their new routine. I clearly don't want to have diva chickens so anything I can do to encourage them up on their own would be advice greatly received.
Thanks
David
This is my first post in the forum after being able to find plenty of advice on this forum over the past 2 years since owning chickens.
When I first purchased my hens, I had a simple coop where as the hens walked in, they effectively walked onto the perches which were just above ground level (which was a giant tray that could be pulled out and bedding cleaned). No jumping was required as they basically stepped onto the perches. At night, all the chickens slept on the perches and not in the nest box and all was good.
I've recently upgraded the coop to a larger on and the perches are now approx. 2ft off the ground. So as they walk in, it's just bedding and they can walk all around but have to hop up onto the perches.
The problem I have is that at night, all the chickens happily go into the new coop but all settle down to sleep on the floor.
For the past 2 weeks, I've gone out every night, and carefully picked each chicken up and placed them on the perch to encourage the right behaviour. I've gone out each morning and they are all still up on the perch so must be happy. They each hop down independently when the door is opened so again, this is no problem.
There are two roost bars at the same height and plenty of space.
Is it just a matter of time establishing the new routing or is there anything else I can try or has anyone else had a similar issue. I'm afraid that as we all know, chickens are creatures of habit, and they are now happy waiting for me to come out at night and lift them up which they see as their new routine. I clearly don't want to have diva chickens so anything I can do to encourage them up on their own would be advice greatly received.
Thanks
David