Girls not roosting

[OsideChicks]

My girls are 9 and 11 weeks old and are sleeping in their nesting box at night. I didn't think that was ok. What should I do? They were roosting at night ... now only they roost during the day.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Ms. Cluckingly]

Mine sleep on the floor of their coop right now too. On the liter pan. Winter is coming soon and that thing is gunna get COLD! I'd like to know some suggestions for teaching them to sleep on the roosting thingie in their coop too. And YES, it is called a roosting thingie.

 

[chookchick]

Mine mostly slept on the floor until they were 4 months old. Now they all roost. You could close off the nesting boxes until they are ready to lay, or put a drape over the front of the boxes.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Are your nest boxes below your roost by quite a ways? That always helps. Mine are on the opposite wall and when I did that they finally started to roost where they were suppose to

They LOVE high things to roost on.

 

[OsideChicks]

Their nesting boxes are at the same height as their roost. I will ad a higher place for them to roost. Thanks for the tip

 

[OsideChicks]

Oh ya I will try covering the nesting boxes as well.
Thanks you guys!

 

[catfish/okie]

I made my roost a good 2 ft. higher than my nest boxes and I also waited till they were almost 18 weeks old before I put installed the nest boxes.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I have to lower the nest boxes in my bantam coop too...they are about the same level and I get some of the girls who like to just sit right on top of the boxes and get it all pooed up! So they are all being lowered this week too. Hope your fix works for you. You are catching it while they are still young enough too so that should work out good for you

 

[OsideChicks]

Thanks everybody! I am a newbee to the chicken world, so I'm sure I will be on this site asking a lot of questions. I'm glad I joined everyone seems really nice and very helpful.

 

[bantamsrus]

Sometimes I help "teach" mine to roost in the appropriate spots if I have some stubborn ones--go out after its dark and put them on the roosts. This seems to help and then after a few days they're usually roosting on their own.

I just got done teaching a batch of youngster pheasants to roost at night--very important around me since naughty racoons like to reach through the fence and grab pheasants sleeping on the ground!!!