Ground sleeping in coop

[MMcWADE]

Hi all! My hens are now 6months old and they are good at going into their coop at night, but then they just all huddle together on the ground instead of perching on the roost for sleep. Do I need to train them out if this? Will they grow out of it? Is there anything wrong with just letting them sleep on the ground if it’s in the coop?

 

[cherrynberry]

Hi all! My hens are now 6months old and they are good at going into their coop at night, but then they just all huddle together on the ground instead of perching on the roost for sleep. Do I need to train them out if this? Will they grow out of it? Is there anything wrong with just letting them sleep on the ground if it’s in the coop?

Sleeping on the ground may cause issues. I recommend putting them on the roost every night to see if they catch on.

 

[3KillerBs]

You can try putting them up on the roosts to see if they get the hang of it.

If you post some photos of the interior of the coop we can see if there might be some issues. For example, the Brahma in my avatar can't fly so she slept on the floor of the little coop where she couldn't get up to the roost.

In the new coop I have a ramp up to the roost and, after being put up there a few times she sleeps on the roost now (it had to have been HILARIOUS to see me lifting her up over the ramp, touching her feet down at every run so that she'd learn the way up).

 

[Banana01]

Photo of coop is helpful. They should want to roost, but maybe there is some accessibility issue that can be easily fixed.

 

[Sally PB]

My 17 week old pullets like to huddle in the corner of the coop, on the pine shavings. The adults have their roost, and I've seen the pullets on it during the daytime, but I'm sure they would not be allowed to sleep there.

They have their own roost. Two, in fact. I don't know why they don't use them, as I've seen them on both of those too.

Some people have said their pullets started sleeping up on the roost after they started laying.