Getting chickens to sleep on the roost

[Taluhla106]

I have 4 new chickens about 4 months old, and they won't sleep on the roost. During the day I see them up on the roosts, jumping around but not sleeping there. There are 6 other chickens that are all older and sleep on the roost. Cadbury, one of my new Araucanas, sleeps on top of the waterer. 2 of them sleep on top of each other in a nesting box. Truffle, my other Araucana does actually sleep on the roost, which is kind if strange because she has bad toes and has a hard time walking. My other chickens were already sleeping on the roost when they were that age. I want them to sleep on the roost, but I don't know how. I never had trouble like this with my others.:/

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

How long have you had them (you say they are "new")? How did you go about the introductions between groups and how long have they been living together? How large is the coop and how much roosting space is available? How are the roosts configured?
It is possible the older/established leaves the new birds feeling unable to roost - even if you are not seeing overt aggression and they seem to have integrated peacefully, the roost can be that place where the mental game of "you aren't welcome here" can come about. You definitely don't want them sleeping in the nesting boxes, so I would address that by physically moving them out of the box at bedtime. Is your coop setup so that you are able to get into it or is it one of the smaller "chicken box" style where a human can't fit inside? This is going to play into what you are/aren't able to do to address these issues....

 

[Taluhla106]

I have had them about the 4 months, I got them when they were a few days old. My dad sectioned off part of their run so that way when we got new chickens we could put up the extra wire (fence) to put them in then open it up to take them out at bedtime. They are now loose in the run with the others. They get along pretty well. There are 2 roosts spaced apart, one higher then one about an inch lower. The coop is plenty big, the people at the place where we bought the coop said it could at least 12 chickens with enough room to move around. I can get inside easily, and I have tried to get them out. When I do get them out I walk away then go back a few minutes later and they are back in their box.

 

[kittykitty30]

What I did was to move very quickly and put all of the birds on the roosts at once. Monitor them and rearrange them so they aren't picked on.

 

[Taluhla106]

I tried that but they jump right off

 

[welasharon]

You wait until its dark.

 

[kittykitty30]

Yeah, they have to be tired enough to ignore each other before you do it.

 

[welasharon]

When it's dark chickens don't like to move around,. They will, hopefully, sit tight.

 

[Taluhla106]

Thanks, I'll try that tomorrow night

 

[philipchickymad]

i have 14 hens of mixed breeds and only my newest youngest hens which are cream leg bars actually sleep on the roost whereas the rest of them just sleep on the floor of the coop