Girls don't roost...

[ckelley]

So my girls are 8 weeks old and I've tried encouraging them to roost and they act like I'm crazy! The are adorable all huddled together, but I'm getting 10 more in June.

If they never roost, will it become a health issue?

 

[ckelley]

 

[ckelley]

 

[shober]

I have to say that I don't think so. My sister's flock (she lives in West Cork, Ireland) never roosts! She had a giant Buff Orpington rooster and many of the girls just gathered under him!! She provided a pole for them and they just never wanted to use it!

 

[aart]

8 weeks might be young, especially without older birds around the 'show them how'.
What does your roost look like?
Do you ever see them up the roost during the day?
I'd just wait...or go out well after dark and place them on the roost, couple nights of that might start the habit.

 

[AlleysChicks]

Mine stayed on the floor of the coop at that age. My roosts were up too high for them. But they'd sleep on top of the feeder when they lived in the garage. So maybe something low until they get the hang of it?

Also I want to mention I still have a few that sleep on the floor of the coop at night. They never roost up high.

 

[jpw909]

My girls are 6 months old and have not roosted. The picture you posted look like mine! They hang out on the floor, or in the egg boxes, often times piled up on each other. I love that they hang together and decided it was, "normal," for them. I'm not sure who decided in the group to sleep that way, but they all follow it!

 

[ckelley]

You can kind of see the lowest roost behind them. It's about a foot off the floor. There is a second one about 2.5 feet up.

It's good to know that they are in good company! Lol.

I just don't want them to sleep in the nesting boxes- so I put cardboard boxes to block them out.

 

[Beekissed]

Put them on the roosts each night until they get the hang of it. Roosting is natural for birds but they've just never been shown how to mount up there...some birds need that guidance and you are it. Just keep at it until they get it. You'll thank yourself later when they start laying and you have to open those nest boxes and then they are pooping in them.

 

[jpw909]

Thanks! I didn't realize I had to teach them. They do poop in the egg boxes when they sleep there, and I clean them out daily because of that. I only have one hen laying, so far, and she lays in the middle of the hen house. I have six egg boxes, and they sleep in about three of them, so there are others she can lay in, but...she doesn't! The hen house is small, so the eggs are easy to spot. Most of the day they are free ranging in the yard, and they put themselves to bed around 5pm. I go out to close the enclosure up, so I can roost train then.