Chickens won't roost on the roosting boards at night

[birdsrfun]

Like Ridgerunner says, adults may not let your hen up. There is a pecking order, and even if all birds are juvenile pellets, one or several birds may be at the bottom of that pecking order and the other girls may not let them up at night.

Or, it may just take a little more time.

Ha ha! Pullets that is. Pellets are what they eat.
Sorry for the typo...

 

[Organic Gal]

Like Ridgerunner says, adults may not let your hen up. There is a pecking order, and even if all birds are juvenile pellets, one or several birds may be at the bottom of that pecking order and the other girls may not let them up at night.

Or, it may just take a little more time.

I only have the 7 11 week old chickens right now

 

[Organic Gal]

Thank you everyone for your responses. My coop does have plenty of natural light with two windows opposite the roosting boards so I don't think that is the problem. Plus my neighbor about 100 ft away leaves their porch light on all night. I know they can get up on the roosts as this morning at 6:30 when I came to let them out they were all on the roosts then they jumped down to come out. I think it maybe they are just figuring things out. I will go out after dark and check to see if maybe they do get up on the roost after it gets dark. They go in the coop at 8pm like clockwork each night and its not totally dark yet. It maybe that they do get up on the roosts later. If I go out to check on them around 10pm should I use a red night so not to scare them?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I use a regular flashlight but if you want to use red and have one you can. Just don't hurt yourself worrying about scaring the chickens.

 

[Organic Gal]

I use a regular flashlight but if you want to use red and have one you can. Just don't hurt yourself worrying about scaring the chickens.

Thanks. I actually have little pop lights that can be any color that I intended to put in the coop ceiling. I will use one of them to check them tonight.

 

[Organic Gal]

On Wednesday night right after dark, I went out to secure the doors to the coop and run and looked in and saw all the chickens on the roosting bars!! I guess they needed more time to figure it out. Thank goodness. I really didn't want to have to go out and put them on the roosting bars myself. Thursday and Friday they were also on the roosting bars