Do you put roosts in your brooder?

[Avonshire]

So I was reading a chicken book today and it said around 4weeks the chicks will like settling on their roosts. Well my chicks are still in the brooder and I dont have a roost. Should I?

 

[sheena85]

yes i would..i have a few in mine.....they like to play on them...and it helps them figure out what to do...beside being the only ones in the coop who sleep on the floor lol

 

[Avonshire]

Ok how do you do a roost in an indoor brooder that is a large plastic container?

 

[sheena85]

well i would get some chop stick's and fix them some how with some leg's or tie them from the top some how and let them hang down...but keep it pretty close to the bottom....

 

[AlpineSpringsRanch]

Starting at a week or two old in the small brooder i use a craft stick from michaels (just a long wooden dowel) which they sell for around 50 cents. I just rest it on top of scrap 2x4 so its only an inch and a half or so off the floor. I have it secured with a finishing nail so it doesn't roll. The chicks love it. In the large brooder I'll have several different levels for them to choose from.

I've also brooded without it but by the time they got out to the big coop it took a while for them to catch on to using the roost. I have a rooster that STILL wants to be in the nesting box at night.

 

[Avonshire]

Yeah I have been doing lots of reading on here and I am feeling bad that I did not put a roost in there for them--they are going to be delayed! lol! I will remedy that somehow today!!

 

[Megs72]

I have 5 week old chicks and i just found a stick in my yard. We cut is slightly longer than the container so it is in there at an angle.

They love to roost on it, and sleep with their heads hanging over it.

The got the added bonus of finding bugs in it!!!!

 

[aoxa]

I do, and they LOVE it.

 

[Avonshire]

I have 5 week old chicks and i just found a stick in my yard. We cut is slightly longer than the container so it is in there at an angle.

They love to roost on it, and sleep with their heads hanging over it.

The got the added bonus of finding bugs in it!!!!

Can you post a picture?

 

[Izzymoon]

My brooder kit came with one, and they used it but it sat on the floor. Over time it sorta became the border of their "coop" even though there wasn't one. At night they would all pile up inside the triangle and sleep. When I moved them into the outside coop, they had a real roost, but I put this one on the floor, just so they'd have something familiar.