Is it cruel to force chickens onto perch if they cannot get back down?

[Orchid]

I would keep them locked in the coop for a day or two (assuming it is light in there during the day) so they recognize it as "home". I would also put a smallish light in there for evening so it's appealing for them to enter the coop as it gets dark outside.

I don't know why you would insist they sleep on the roost; if the floor is properly bedded it should be warm and comfy for them to sleep in the shavings. My hens sleep on the roost, and my rooster prefers the unused nest box that is at floor level...works for him, works for me!

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Good points.

Also, we haven't talked about your setup very much. Chickens will "fly" down off a roost, and if they have room, this can involve several feet of horizontal space. Mine are on a 3' tall roost and some land about 4' or 5' away from the roosts, flapping and half flying on the way down. They go up there willingly, but maybe they wouldn't if they had to just jump, and couldn't cushion their landing by flapping. I also have one, like Orchid, who prefers to sleep elsewhere --- on a shelf in my case. No problem.

 

[patandchickens]

As mentioned, make sure they have sufficient horizontal room to get down.

But, also remember that chickens are very often extremely dim (paranoid? scrupulously cautious? brilliantly survival-minded? whatever

) about new things and new circumstances and new setups. I would not be at all surprised if your chickens are just sort of awestruck and goggle-brained about their new digs in general, and simply have not yet got up courage to TRY getting down off their roosts. (Getting off a roost is not a complicated thing, gravity pretty much takes care of it, even DEAD chickens can get OFF a roost

)

So unless your roost is extremely high or there is very little horizontal space around it, I would be highly tempted to chalk it up to "they're just chicken" and manually put them up and down as needed every day until they choose to take some initiative. Give it a week or ten days and see where things stand then.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Rivers]

Thanks for the comments everyone. As ever patsandchickens seems to hit the nail on the head. It all seemed to be nervousness related stupidity. The person I purchased them off had heaps of birds in a tiny run and coop. With no space to run around and nothing in their environment to interact with.

So to begin with the brids were absolutley clueless, just standing in one spot. Not even running away. But they learned fast. They are now exploring at least half of my garden, come to me for food but run away if they think I will pick them up. But the best bit?

last night me and my brother struggled to catch them and lock them in the coop well after dark. But today they not only went into the coop all by themselves, but each one including the younger small bird all jumped onto the perch!

 

[amberflea]

Well my question is why would you force them to perch?? I would think they will do that on their own when they are good and ready, I've only had keets, but they jump on their perch I have in their coop when they are ready... as long as there is bedding on the floor, I would say let them be... they will get it eventually... just my 2 cents... it will come as nature intended- as that is a natural thing for birds to do..

I too would be afraid of them not knowing how to get off, or hurting a leg jumping off, (another reason to have plenty of bedding on the floor to cushion a fall or jump off.)

 

[mulewagon]

Quote:
I put in a lot of time training mine to perch before I put the nestboxes in. That's so they wouldn't sleep in the nestboxes and poop in them. Also, when some sleep on the floor and some on the roost, the ones on the floor get pooped on. But they still want me to cuddle them...

We started them with low, smaller perches. Then installed big, higher perches, with a ladder leading up (they can also perch on the lower rungs). Then had to spend days re-training them, because these perches were different. After that, I put the nestboxes in, and they've stayed perfectly clean.

So far as natural impulses go, mine felt an impulse to roost on the feed bins and lawn furniture, outside the coop, where the owls could have a good shot. Since I can't afford to fund natural selection, I had to carry 50 chickens inside every night and stick them on the roost. Eventually they decided the new roost was safe!

 

[mulewagon]

After meditating on the perch question awhile, I wrote a song about it.

(Yes, I have spent too much time thinking about chickens!)

 

[Cluckn Crazy]

My girls were not using their roosts, training did not work (5 day attempt), and they were sleeping like this...

Now, after installing a roost along the window, 5 of 6 sleep with a view, and one has progressed to a higher roost all by herself...

I will never try to train a chicken again!