Do my girls need a ladder?

[justaud]

Hello everyone! I have a roosting question for you. My 6 red sex-link pullets are about 13 weeks old, and have been in their coop for about 2 weeks. We built the coop with a 2x3 roost two feet up from the floor, and the nesting boxes at the same height (across the coop from the roost). I haven't seen any of my girls up on the roost, even when I go in and place a few of them on the bar to show them where to go. They sleep piled up in the corner of the floor, with Merida (alpha hen) facing out.

Does this breed need a ladder to get up to the roost or nesting boxes? Do I need to go out there each night and put them all up on the bar? Not sure how much I actually need to teach them, and what they just figure out on their own.

 

[troy4]

no the dont need a ladder they can jump up and get in to the nesting boxes .

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

What are the over all dimensions of your coop? It may be that there is not enough room to make them feel comfortable taking the "leap" if the interior space is too crowded by the roost and nest boxes. That being said, it is not unusual for them to choose to sleep in a huddle when they are younger.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Also, if it is too dark in the interior when they go into the coop for the night they can feel uncomfortable trying to fly up to the roost - especially as young birds.

 

[illbuildacoop]

Nothing is wrong with a ladder. I have one gets them to a walkway at the window sill height. The other turns right there and goes up the other direction to the roost bar at 7 feet high. It took awhile for all of them to get it figured out. Now they all sleep up high and walk down the ladders in the morning. I have a putty knife and an old flower pot I scrape the droppings off with and bag it up and give it out as fertilizer to friends and relatives with gardens.

 

[justaud]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! Maybe it is because they are still young, or maybe they are chilly still at night. It looks as though they have plenty of room to fly up there, so I think I'll give it a couple more weeks before I cave and make them some stairs

I did put an LED touch light inside the coop, up near the roost bar. Maybe that will give them a hint about using it.

 

[justaud]

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Here is a pic of the coop before we put up the walls. I had to draw in the roost location, because it wasn't there yet. Does there look like adequate space to get up there, and to get to the nest boxes, or will they need ladders? These are my first hens, and I'm not familiar with their athletic abilities yet.

 

[justaud]