Chicks sleeping in a pile?

[jfulcher]

Is this normal? Before they were sleeping wherever they dropped. Now they are in a pile sleeping. Please let me know if this is ok.

 

[rillgal]

My chickens slept in a pile until they were almost a year old and then one night they just started roosting. They still try to pile together on the roosts. They look very uncomfortable!

 

[Rachy]

Quote:
LOL Rachy...they will! I put my 28 chicks out when they were 7-9 weeks old and I played chicken wrangler every day for about 4 days every evening to get them in the coop (we didn't shut them in the coop for the first few days...big mistake). Then they would go in the coop and make big chickie piles on the floor and sleep! I was scared to death that someone was gonna get smushed. I would make them unpile and 5 minutes later they would b back on the pile! It was like 80 degrees and they were fully feathered...but they eventually figured the roosts out and 2 poles that were in our converted smokehouse to chicken coop has become their favorite place! Silly chickens! Give them time. They will figure it out sooner or later! Good luck!

Thanks, lol big chickie piles!

 

[a(TM)?HoneyBeea(TM)?]

Are they still under a light? If they're piling on top of each other directly under

the light, it could be a sign that they are cold. My chicks always make a pile when

they sleep, but if they are literally piling ON TOP of each other in a tight bunch,

they may need more heat

 

[jfulcher]

Well it was a tight bunch but we put a towel over the brooder w/ the light and now they have rolled around to form a loose mess on the floor lol. Now one of them is just peepin around trying to wake the finally sleeping bunch up haha!

 

[Rachy]

My chicks are 9 weeks old and have been in their coop for 2 weeks. They ignore the roosting bars and still sleep in a pile

One day I'm hoping they will suss things out

but seeing as they don't put themselves to bed yet, I'm not getting my hopes up...

 

[feliciamckee]

Mine sleep in a pile too...even my older chicks. If you don't think they are cold, they are just snuggling. Chicks are so sweet and they like to cuddle.

 

[Geckochick]

My girls slept in a massive pile last night in the corner of the coop. They had been sleeping in some smaller piles, some on the roosts, some by themselves, but last night was a tad cooler, so I suspect they were seeking warmth.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I've been weaning my 6 week olds away from the heat lamp (it gets nice and cool, low 60s even high 50s at night here) and I've noticed that while they go to sleep up on their perch in my garage brooder/minicoop, on cool mornings they are "snuggled" together on the floor. I would check the temperature in your brooder. You didn't say how old your chicks are, but they need a fair amount of heat during their first weeks.

 

[Nicole01]

My chickens STILL sleep in a pile. I couldn't teach them to roost on a 4 inch roost, so I had to make it 10 inches wide. The other roost is 12 inches, which isn't so bad as the feeder is underneath that one. My chicks range 13-20 weeks of age.