My chicks won't use their roost...?

[Brelansmama]

My 5, 2 month old chicks have been in their coop 2 weeks, and will NOT use their roost!
They just cuddle up on the floor, like a feathery pile-o-chickens.
I have picked them up, and sat them on the roost, they walk the length of it, then jump down.
They had a little shorty roost in the brooder, and they ALL used it, but they want nothing to do with the one in the coop.
There is no ladder up to it, should I put one in?
Weirdos.

 

[briteday]

Our 5 week old chicks just moved out to the coop last weekend, were using the roost in the brooder, now laying in a pile in the coop at night. I think it's because they can conserve more heat this way, being all piled together. My last batch eventually moved to the roosts when they were 4-5 months old.

 

[wjallen05]

mine do the same thing.... crazy little things!

 

[Der Alte]

I recently posted this elsewhere, but it seemed relevant.

Mine go up to the roost area, but all ten pullets (about 9 wks old) hang off one side.

There are four roost bars, made of 2x2, each 4 ft long. They are all at the same height (4ft.), but on one side, near the ramp, I placed short sections of 2x4s. The 2x4s were intended to give them a side walkway between roost bars. They jam up on these and hang over the edge of the roost area. If they did fall off, it would be all the way down to the floor.

If you looked from the side, you see:

Four Roost Bars 2x2x48" long, each 48" high from floor
Wire Mesh (keeps them away from Droppings Board
Droppings Board 4'x5'(part of it forms ceiling for Nest Boxes)
Four Nest Boxes 20" high from floor
Floor

If you looked from the top, you would see (not to scale):

| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | | <- 4' long roost bars made of 2x2s
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
|||||||||||| <- 2x4s between the bars where they huddle
||
||
|| <- Ramp
||
||


I've tried putting feed on the roost bars. They go out and eat it and come back to that edge. Maybe I should try to block that area off so they use the roost bars. Any ideas?

Der Alte

 

[peggyb43]

We built our coop around an old greenhouse frame with a shelf in it. My 2 nest boxes are on one side of the shelf, and my 5 hens huddle on the other side of the shelf when I go out to close them in for the night. There are no windows (it has lots of airspace below the roof) so I can't see if they get on the roost after I close the doors, but they seem so uncomfortable all huddled together on that shelf. I hope this is some kinda normal! Go figure with chickens...they're pretty crazy!

 

[TammyTX]

I think there were crazy chickens hatched this year!

Mine are 14 weeks old and still won't roost. They know what the roost is for, because they use it during the day.

 

[gritsar]

They'll figure it out in time.

 

[vnploveschickens]

Hi, I've got 5 girls that are 17 weeks old and haven't started to roost yet either. They cram into 2 of our 4 nesting boxes (its funny to see).
I figure they'll roost when they are ready! Hopefully it'll be soon because I have to clean out those 2 boxes every day for our 1 layer.

Val

 

[Akane]

Mine generally don't bother to use the roosts before 10weeks. I have some that are more like 14weeks that just started using the roosts and only because a feral cat was visiting the coop.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Best you break them of that habit now, unless you want to do daily nestbox cleanings and deal with poopy eggs for the rest of the chicken's lives.
The longer they have a habit, the harder it is to break them of it.