Do They HAVE to Roost??

My "flock" has a very nice roost built by my husband, but they seem to prefer to sleep on the floor! Twice I have moved them after dark. I really thought this would be it, after last night, they would go to roost on their roost! I could tell they stayed put last night after I moved them (by all the droppings under the roost) but when I just went out to check them tonight, there they were, on the floor, except for the one girl who has decided to roost on the container that I keep their bag of feed in!!! I think it is wide enough, wide side of a 2x4, and seems high enough, but not too high for the big girls to get off of. Is this something that I should be concerned about? I was thinking that in the winter it probably will be warmer for them to snuggle into the straw, piled together, than to sleep on the roost. I just didn't know if there was some specific reason that they HAD to sleep on the roost? Other than it if they don't use it it's a waste of my husband's time and some good lumber

 

Quote:They range in age from 19 - 23 weeks. I think the problem is that when they moved outside from the brooder, their temporary coop was an XL Dogloo, where they slept in a group on the floor of the Dogloo. They've been in their coop for about a month. I'm wondering if it's too much of a habit now for them to break? They did have roosts in their run before their coop was done, and they would all sit on them in the morning after they'd roamed around and scratched around the run a bit. They also do occasionally sit on the roost in the coop, because I've found droppings on the roosts. I will try to get pics today. There is a low bar and a higher bar, so they can jump from one to the other, and plenty of space for everyone to fit on one.

 

Here are a couple pics of the roost. They DO hop up there during the day, they just don't sleep up there. And yes, my coop is secure along the floor and the floor is concrete.