My hens squeezed together in a corner of the coop, is this normal?

[KauAnnie]

This is the second night in their new coop. Last night, the chickens either slept in their nest (a box with hay) or on the roost(idk if thats the right term? Its a wooden pole.) which I thought was completly normal. Tonight, the decide to all sqeeze into one corner, is this normal? Like, they kept chirping cause they were squishing eachother. What should i do

Ohh and should my hens have combs and waddles? Does the growth of some mean their adults? Heres a pic of them from yesturday.

 

[Animalian]

They look too young to have much of a comb yet, it will grow bigger about the same time as they start laying eggs.

Mine all slept in the SAME next box when I first got them, you just need to get in there after dark and move them up to their roost so they learn that that is the sleeping place. Takes them about a week of being moved and the occasional bird not being in the right place, but they will get it in the end

Also don't let them sleep in the nest box because it will make your eggs dirty because they will poop in there all night!

I think it's because they're young they still try and sleep like chicks, all huddled together, and since (I'm assuming) these pullets have no adult hens to copy in the new coop, they are sticking to doing what they know. You just need to teach them different!

 

[lightfoot]

some chickens never use a roost, they huddle, usually in a corner.

 

[Jferlisi]

Quote:
What they said. And yes it is called a roost.

 

[krissteff]

Mine have been squishing together for WEEKS. It seems to be how they are doing it for the time being. I spent a lot of time worrying about it, and I have a thread in the forum about it with a picture of how they stack on top of each other. I don't worry about it anymore. Mine are only just now starting to go in the coop on their own regularly, so I think maybe they figure these things out as they get older?

They are quirky little beings, that's for sure.

 

[KauAnnie]

Thanks everyone! I'll start training them tomorrow night because it's a bit late already. I was so worried they were gonna suffercate eachother!

And as for their combs, a friend told me they are bantams and that hens dont grow combs so I was confused cause all the pictures I've seen are with combs. Thanks again!

 

[Terrie Mac]

Last night was my chicks first night out in the coop and when I checked them before going to bed they too were all bunched in the corner. But by morning they were all up on the roost. Tonight again, all bunched up in a corner, guess they'll eventually figure it out.

PS- we have the nesting box blocked off so it doesn't become a bedroom.

 

[ThinkingChickens]

I have an Eglu Go, which has a barred floor and then a nest box. The girls sleep on the roosting bars back at the back all together. They use about 1/3 the coop if that and two are layers so they aren't that young. Some girls just like to get together to sleep. Of course, two of my girls are also never more than five feet away from each other in the yard either.

 

[OkieKristi]

When I first got my chicks last year (at about 10 wks) they all slept in a corner of the coop floor. By the time they were around 4 mos old, I started trying to go in at night and put them on the roost. They just freaked out and always ended up back in their corner. I bought an older pullet (7-8 mos old), and thought that since she was used to sleeping on a roost, they would learn from her. She slept her first night on the roost, then every other night was on the floor with the others. At around 6 mos (just before they all started laying), they started checking out the nest boxes, slept a couple of nights in the nest boxes, then moved on up to the roost within a week or so. I would just wait and let them do it in their own time.

 

[turbodog]

Mine are younger than yours and they all pile into a corner too. They are not big enough to fly up to the roost pole yet. During the day they do tend to sit on the supports where the nest boxes will end up being, but they don't roost there at night. I don't want to encourage that anyway since I don't want them trying to roost in the nest boxes once they are in. So for now a pile on the ground it is.