I have 5 chicks that are about 6-7 weeks old, 4 hens and 1 roo, and they have a 2 story coop with grass on the bottom and wood shavings on the top with their roosts. They have food and water downstairs, and just water upstairs. The first night, I put them in upstairs and they all stayed there and went down in the morning. Then, the next night only the roo went up. Now, the past few nights they were all sleeping on the bottom section on the grass, so I have been putting them upstairs myself. Should I just leave them alone and let them figure it out themselves?
I've had brooder raised chicks start roosting at 6 weeks and some that have waited until 12 weeks to start. Some people on this forum have reported theirs took a lot longer to start. There is no set time for them to start roosting. They will when they are ready. I personally choose to leave them alone and let them figure it out on their own.
I have a two story coop. Mine has stairs to go down from the netting/perch areas. I have food and water upstairs and only water on the bottom. The first few times they would go down but not up. I would crawl under each night and put them on the stairs---some times it took a few times before they went up. After a few nights they just go up now at night. When they are all up at night, i close the opening going down with a piece of wood. Later in the morning I open it so they can go down and roam. I had read that they should stay in there nesting area until around 10 so they will lay there eggs there and not on the grass, making it hard to find the eggs plus damage to the eggs could happen. Now my problem is that they go in the nesting box and not on the perch!
