Funny chickens

[n3kms]

Went out when it was nearly dark to close the chicken coop. Checked inside to see that everything looked okay. Of course it was even darker in the coop and I could not see all 10 of my 8 week old Barred Rock pullets at first and was about to have a heart attack, but then I looked a little higher. Took this pic with a flash so they look a little scary. I knew some had roosted on the right wall but they had not been above the window before.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Haha!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

This is a very good example of chickens roosting where chickens think that chickens should roost, and not were we tell chickens that they must roost. Before we humans first began dabbling in the chicken's DNA to create a slower, plumper, and juicer chicken, the chicken that roosted the highest tended to live the longest. This was even true with ancient domesticated chickens.

As they grow I suspect that the ledges will be abandoned in favor of the roost pole. However they may now prefer a roost pole if you add a higher one, say at the level of the lone pullet. leave the existing pole as a weigh station to and from the higher one.

Don't miss this opportunity to study chicken behavior by watching and waiting quietly inside the chicken coop/house, waiting for your chickens to come home to roost. It will soon become apparent who is who in the pecking order as bird after bird tries to claim and is soon evicted from (in a chicken's eye) the plum roosting sites.

Just leave our human prejudices behind and remember that your chickens are only doing what everyone's chickens have always done. And if you do add a higher roosting pole don't neglect to give them a soft landing pad by covering the chicken house floor with several inches of sand. What ever else they may be, adult Barred Rocks don't fly like Hummingbirds, BRs need a soft place to land.

 

[aart]

LOL they won't fit up there for much longer, tho they'll probably try.

You might actually want to block them from roosting there, as they poop a lot at night.

 

[n3kms]

LOL they won't fit up there for much longer, tho they'll probably try.

You might actually want to block them from roosting there, as they poop a lot at night.

This is a very good example of chickens roosting where chickens think that chickens should roost, and not were we tell chickens that they must roost. Before we humans first began dabbling in the chicken's DNA to create a slower, plumper, and juicer chicken, the chicken that roosted the highest tended to live the longest. This was even true with ancient domesticated chickens.

As they grow I suspect that the ledges will be abandoned in favor of the roost pole. However they may now prefer a roost pole if you add a higher one, say at the level of the lone pullet. leave the existing pole as a weigh station to and from the higher one.

Don't miss this opportunity to study chicken behavior by watching and waiting quietly inside the chicken coop/house, waiting for your chickens to come home to roost. It will soon become apparent who is who in the pecking order as bird after bird tries to claim and is soon evicted from (in a chicken's eye) the plum roosting sites.

Just leave our human prejudices behind and remember that your chickens are only doing what everyone's chickens have always done. And if you do add a higher roosting pole don't neglect to give them a soft landing pad by covering the chicken house floor with several inches of sand. What ever else they may be, adult Barred Rocks don't fly like Hummingbirds, BRs need a soft place to land.

Well, those chicks were still young and now they have gotten too big to get in the walls. Tonight they were all on the highest roost and there did seem to be some discussion about who would be where. They were so tight together that one was standing up since she had no room to sit with a pullet on either side. I think with the heat they all want to be in the perfect breeze spot between the two windows and on the highest roost. I think one evening I will try going out and watching them come in to roost and see how that goes. Sounds like a great learning experience. The highest roost is a little over 4 feet and they can jump down to the two below, with the lowest about 3 feet off the floor that is covered by 4-5 inches of pine shavings and enough room to be able to use their wings to aid their descent. If they get to looking too heavy once they are full grown I'll just have to make a ladder or add more shavings I guess. Thanks for info.