ticketism
Songster
Hehe, chickens are so strange like that - Really I could sit and watch them all day, all their little individual quirks!
I used to have 6 girls, and they'd all roost like normal, even in the same positions and sequence each night, but now I have 2 hens (custody battle with the ex, haha), and neither of them perch at night at all anymore =/ First I had a lavender Sussex and a light Sussex, they'd both perch to sleep, then my ex wanted to swap out our white orpington for the lavender Sussex, so now I have a light Sussex and a white orpington (both are a little over 2yrs old now) and neither of them roost at all anymore! The LS is very dominant and much larger than the WO, so I would've thought she'd want to sleep higher up, but nope, they both just snuggle up in the straw under the roost and that's that, no matter what I do. Weirdly enough, the WO is and always been extremely 'perchy'; like she'll perch on top of bricks, milk crates, outdoor furniture, low branches, etc, and even when I hold her she prefers to perch on my arm or shoulder than be held in my arms (whIle LS is an absolute cuddle fiend and will snuggle right into my chest like a baby, just letting her legs dangle absolutely care free), but she just stopped roosting in the coop as soon as LS did when the duo became roomies. I don't think it's anything to worry about unless there's any indication that they're standing because something is wrong or uncomfortable, but with that many doing it at once I'd say it's probably more a case of some weird chicken quirkiness, then monkey see monkey do and it's simply become a habit.
I used to have 6 girls, and they'd all roost like normal, even in the same positions and sequence each night, but now I have 2 hens (custody battle with the ex, haha), and neither of them perch at night at all anymore =/ First I had a lavender Sussex and a light Sussex, they'd both perch to sleep, then my ex wanted to swap out our white orpington for the lavender Sussex, so now I have a light Sussex and a white orpington (both are a little over 2yrs old now) and neither of them roost at all anymore! The LS is very dominant and much larger than the WO, so I would've thought she'd want to sleep higher up, but nope, they both just snuggle up in the straw under the roost and that's that, no matter what I do. Weirdly enough, the WO is and always been extremely 'perchy'; like she'll perch on top of bricks, milk crates, outdoor furniture, low branches, etc, and even when I hold her she prefers to perch on my arm or shoulder than be held in my arms (whIle LS is an absolute cuddle fiend and will snuggle right into my chest like a baby, just letting her legs dangle absolutely care free), but she just stopped roosting in the coop as soon as LS did when the duo became roomies. I don't think it's anything to worry about unless there's any indication that they're standing because something is wrong or uncomfortable, but with that many doing it at once I'd say it's probably more a case of some weird chicken quirkiness, then monkey see monkey do and it's simply become a habit.
