Encouraging chicks to roost

[cate1124]

I've got six 8-9 week old chicks I would really like to see roosting before I turn them loose with my older hens. I've installed two roosts in their fenced-off part of the coop (see images), and I've seen all but one readily hop on both, and from one to the other -- during the day. (The one, an exceedingly sweet Sussex, is clumsy about jumping and perching, definitely the last pick for the dodgeball team.) I've tried sitting on a roost, modeling Mom behavior, and that seemed to work really well for a couple minutes, apart from the chicks who wanted to roost higher, on me. But then they all jumped off, and, after much alarmed "It's getting dark! We're prey! We're on the ground!" peeping, fell asleep in their usual tight huddle in the pine shavings.

I know they'll feel calmer -- and I will too -- if they learn this behavior sooner rather than later. Any ideas? They also had lower roosts available in their brooder from about five weeks, so the presence of roosts is not new to them.

 

[azygous]

Playing on a perch during the day is completely different from roosting on a perch to sleep at night. The first is merely random play activity. The second depends on changing the chicks' sleeping habits from huddling in a clump on the floor to sleeping side by side on a perch.

In order to accomplish your objective, you will need to go ahead and move them into the coop and teach them to roost when evening comes and the chicks are showing signs of wanting to sleep.

The easiest way to get chicks to roost is to place them on the perch tightly together. Chicks are transiently thigmotactic, a survival instinct, needing to feel physically close while sleeping . So you take advantage of that to give them a sense of security while they learn this new sleeping habit.

If a chick is upset after being placed on the perch, placing your hand lightly on its back will calm it. Exerting a gentle downward pressure on their neck and head will further calm them and encourage them to feel drowsy. Also, if you place all the chicks on a perch where the end is against a wall and farthest from the adult chickens, that helps. Placing the most self confident chick on the outside farthest from the wall helps, and placing the least self confident chick against the wall will further your objective.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I think you got good advice from @azygous
I like to start early by placing a curved branch, forked on the end.
I placed it in the brooder on the second day when chicks were 4 days old.

They were climbing on it that night.

My previous batch at 13 days.

Coop wasn't ready till they were 8 weeks, but they were roosting on the first night.

GC

 

[cate1124]

Playing on a perch during the day is completely different from roosting on a perch to sleep at night. The first is merely random play activity. The second depends on changing the chicks' sleeping habits from huddling in a clump on the floor to sleeping side by side on a perch.

In order to accomplish your objective, you will need to go ahead and move them into the coop and teach them to roost when evening comes and the chicks are showing signs of wanting to sleep.

The easiest way to get chicks to roost is to place them on the perch tightly together. Chicks are transiently thigmotactic, a survival instinct, needing to feel physically close while sleeping . So you take advantage of that to give them a sense of security while they learn this new sleeping habit.

If a chick is upset after being placed on the perch, placing your hand lightly on its back will calm it. Exerting a gentle downward pressure on their neck and head will further calm them and encourage them to feel drowsy. Also, if you place all the chicks on a perch where the end is against a wall and farthest from the adult chickens, that helps. Placing the most self confident chick on the outside farthest from the wall helps, and placing the least self confident chick against the wall will further your objective.

Thanks for this detailed response! Sounds like good advice. The explanation about placing them close makes sense and certainly is reflected in their huddling behavior. A few questions: The pen you see in the images is in the coop occupied by the adult hens; it has its own roosts. Are you saying I need to move them into the larger coop first? My older girls have NOT been happy about their presence and I'm concerned about scuffling, injury and general distress that might discourage any attempt at roosting if they have not already formed the habit before attempting to roost with the hens. (I could leave their pen roosts in place for awhile, until they are larger and better able to hold their own and the hens have better accepted them. ) The hens now roost further back, out of sight of the chicks. And I'm stuck with the chick roosts I've installed horizontal to the wall, as there's really no better option in their temporary pen. Timing is another question: If I place the chicks on the roost when it's still light at all, they'll jump back down, as I can't calm all of them at once. If I wait until it's dark, they'll freak out during the lift but then likely stay put. Also, I've got two roosts, as the image shows, and though all could fit on the upper, I'm inclined to put the clumsy Sussex tight with a buddy on the lower. Thoughts about timing and about all on one roost, or putting two down lower?

 

[cate1124]

I think you got good advice from @azygous
I like to start early by placing a curved branch, forked on the end.
I placed it in the brooder on the second day when chicks were 4 days old.View attachment 2120594
They were climbing on it that night.View attachment 2120610
My previous batch at 13 days.View attachment 2120628View attachment 2120622
Coop wasn't ready till they were 8 weeks, but they were roosting on the first night.View attachment 2120633
GC

I hadn't thought of starting that early; Damerow recommends four to six weeks. But it sure sounds as if it works for you. Thanks for sharing this! I wonder if hens rearing chicks have them roosting with her from the time they are a few days old. Or, do they sleep beneath her for awhile. Anyone know?

 

[azygous]

You are correct that integration comes before roosting. If you can find time to read through this https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors.71995/ you'll see how I've arrived at my methods of integration.

Chicks are active observers of adult chickens. I brood in my run so my chicks I have presently have been observing the adult flock for two weeks now. Tomorrow, I will open the portals from their safe pen into the main run. They will then be able to mingle with the flock and learn the pecking order but still have the safety of their pen to return to if they feel overwhelmed.

By age five weeks, they are totally integrated and know their place in the flock, and the adults have come to accept them fully. They are also completely weaned off heat by this time, so this is when they move into the coop. It happens that I have a dedicated coop for chicks so they don't have to compete with the adults at roosting time, but if your coop is large enough for the chicks to have their own perch, it can work to teach them to bunk with the adults. There are ways to transition chicks to the coop to make it easier for them, but they all catch on fairly quickly.

I've spent years watching a broody integrate her chicks, and it's around age five weeks she begins to teach them to roost and to wean them from her protection. Broodies have been know to teach chicks as young as three weeks how to roost beside them, but five weeks is much more common as they seem to be mature and ready for the move to the coop at this age.

 

[cate1124]

I hadn't thought of starting that early; Damerow recommends four to six weeks. But it sure sounds as if it works for you. Thanks for sharing this! I wonder if hens rearing chicks have them roosting with her from the time they are a few days old. Or, do they sleep beneath her for awhile. Anyone know?

I did read the article; well-written and well-reasoned. Wish I'd read it sooner! I got these chicks in early March -- it was my good fortune to be just ahead of pandemic lockdowns -- and moved them out to the coop after full feathering and when night-time temps were consistently in the 40s, so I wouldn't need to supplement heat. I also wanted to clean the coop well -- five years of accumulated dust, flit and potential pathogens -- shortly before moving them in, so they would have a more gentle exposure to whatever stuff my hens may be carrying and shedding, and cleaner air. Anyway, the hens and chicks have been seeing each other for a week now, and perhaps I will start, in this next week, to allowed supervised time in the same space, but keep the chick "coop" in place for when I'm not there. I'm sure they'll catch on to roosting and the old girls will eventually accept them.

You're smart, articulate, knowledgeable. (You almost sound like an academic; I was one, too.) Thank you for taking the time to respond to me. I'm in Colorado, too -- Manitou Springs, just west of Colorado Springs. I'd welcome a PM from you, however that is done through this forum. It'd be nice to have a chicken friend.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I also think you'll get better results once the chicks are integrated in (yes I'm also an early integration person). They'll learn to roost from watching the adults, even if the adults give them a hard time at first.

Alternative is to go in at night/at late dusk and manually place chicks on the roost.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@azygous, you had me at "transiently thigmotactic!" I love learning new words and phrases, and that nearly took my breath away! My heart is still going pitter-pat, lol! I'm telling you, I nearly swooned! I may need a cup of peach tea with local honey to settle me down.

 

[NewBoots]

@azygous, you had me at "transiently thigmotactic!" I love learning new words and phrases, and that nearly took my breath away! My heart is still going pitter-pat, lol! I'm telling you, I nearly swooned! I may need a cup of peach tea with local honey to settle me down.

OMG so it wasn't just me?

And thank you all, this thread has been a fantastic read!