I have a rooster and 4 hens. They will not use their roosting poles at all! I even went out at night and put the hens on the poles. They each got off the pole and went back to the end of the coop where they had been laying. I have done this at least 10 times and they still will not use the poles. Any ideas? thanks!
I have the same problem! Mine know they can pick up the poles too because they're so light, so they just rearange them all night and sleep on the floor :/
I use a 2 x 4 sideways so they roost on the flat side. My girls love this. It gives them a little more rooms to move around. How old are your chickens? When mine were young they also slept on the floor of their coop. At 6 months now they only roost. Good luck.
When I first put my girls in the coop, they completely ignored the roost and clustered in a bog chicken pile by the door. They did that for awhile until one of them just started sleeping on the roost by herself and eventually they all followed her. I'd just make sure that they can get to the poles easily and let them work it out for themselves.
What are your roosts made of? They may not like them. I have tree branches for my roosts. It's what wild chickens use and my girls love them.
My chickies are almost 6 months old. I have tree branches for their roosting poles. The funny thing is I also have a chicken hutch that I got from TSC in the pen too. During the day, they will get on the roosting pole in it and perch. But they sleep in a cluster at the 1/2 open end of the coop (1/2 covered w/plywood, other 1/2 covered with hardware cloth) on the floor! I'm thinking of taking the poles out and adding 1 X 4" boards. I had cinderblocks in the coop before I put the poles in and they loved them. So I'm thinking they may want a flat surface. I don't know. I have funny chickens.. Picky, picky, picky!! lol
My big fat domesticated chickens like to sit on the wide side of 2x4 roosts. Sometimes they climb up to trees, but unlike my cockatiel, when they are resting on your hand, they let their toes relax and lay on their keels.
Mine don't like our roost either. I took a small, old ladder with 1x2's as rungs and they wouldn't go near it. They sit on the ledge in front of the nesting boxes, or in a pile by the door to the outside. They are all 24 weeks or older now, but no eggs yet. So maybe once they reach true adulthood is when they're interested in a roost? I've lowered the position of my roost to see if that makes a difference. We'll see.
