Chickens sleeping in the nesting boxes

[Brahmachicken240]

Trees don't have flat branches.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-perch-experiment.74272/
https://www.vencomaticgroup.com/en/products/layers/housing-solutions/q-perch

Never said they did but okay

 

[Brahmachicken240]

Hope I’m not coming across as rude, this is just what I’ve read off the internet. I use large branches and flat roosts in my coops.
They are all 3-5 inches wide.
But I keep large breeds of chicken.

 

[GoProChickens]

Same here! I use rounded 2" by 4"s, they work good.

 

[azygous]

My chickens would get a kick out of this debate about round, flat, curved, or a steering wheel (now I've heard everything, and my life is finally complete.)

When I built my coops and kitted them out with roosting perches, I read and studied up on chicken needs and what the experts recommend. However, none of this very helpful information takes into account chickens' tendency for being fickle and insisting on doing exactly as they please.

I installed four-inch diameter pine branches, which the majority of the flock seems to find satisfactory. However, the branches are held up by 2"x4" brackets. Every single night, there are chickens perched on each of these brackets with their feet gripping the two-inch top surface (actually, less than 2"). I wouldn't think they'd be very comfortable sleeping all night on such a skinny perch. But what the hail do I know? After all, I'm not a chicken.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hope I’m not coming across as rude, this is just what I’ve read off the internet. I use large branches and flat roosts in my coops.
They are all 3-5 inches wide.
But I keep large breeds of chicken.

This forum is on the internet. I've learned that when someone says you absolutely have to do it this way, that every other way is wrong, it is usually a good idea to get a second opinion. There are way too many different ways to do anything that somebody is doing it in a different way and it is working for them.

I have used tree branches, 2x4's flat and 2x4's on edge, moving them around to see what they prefer. All were full-sized fowl. They prefer certain locations in the coop. Unless you do something ridiculous they don't care what shape they are roosting on as long as it is the best location. Different birds can consider different locations best though most prefer the highest spot. Another forum member recently did the same experiment and pretty much discovered the same thing. His test was more scientific than mine but the results were the same. This was testing what they prefer, not that mythical, mystical "best", whatever best means in this case.

I also have observed them settling down on the 1-1/2" wide edge of a 2x4 and on fairly small tree branches. When they settle down and fluff their feathers like they do in the cold their feet disappear. As long as the roost is wood (which is a good insulator) their feet are not likely to get frostbite. The material is more important than shape.

Use whatever you wish, it does not matter to me. I doubt your chickens will care about shape either.

 

[rog1111]

...
One reason a hen will choose a night in the nest instead of the perch is to escape bullying at roosting time...

I seem to have this problem. Is there a way I can lessen the bullying so that they all use the roosts and one or two don't try to escape to the nesting boxes?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I seem to have this problem. Is there a way I can lessen the bullying so that they all use the roosts and one or two don't try to escape to the nesting boxes?

I integrate immature chickens all the time and had this problem regularly. The way I solved it (for the most part) was to put a separate roost higher than the nests but lower than the main roosts and separated horizontally by a few feet from the main roosts to give them a safe place to go that was not my nests and where the older birds would not harass them. The reason I say for the most part is that once every three or four years I still get an immature chicken try to sleep in a nest. I lock up after dark so when that happens I set the chicken on the lower roost. It usually only takes a time or two but i catch it immediately. If they are in the habit of sleeping in the nests it might take longer.

I don't know how much room you have on your main roosts or how they are configured. If you have sufficient room and the problem is immature birds with mature birds, once they mature enough the immature birds should move to the main roosts on their own. If all yours are the same age then the problem is probably that some birds are brutal to others lower on the pecking order when on the roosts. I don't know of any way to train a chicken to not bully, that's just the way some chickens are put together. Hopefully you have room to add another roost.