New 19 week old pullets - signs of stress/not using roosts?

[Ted Brown]

My pullets are huddling together in the south east (front) of the coop right under the HC during the night. It is going to be a cold winter unless they move to the back.

 

[aart]

My pullets are huddling together in the south east (front) of the coop right under the HC during the night. It is going to be a cold winter unless they move to the back.

They'll move...eventually.
Or you could show them the way.
I've always moved my birds to the place *I* want them to sleep.
Well after dark is best, IMO.
.. or even during the day if they are easy to handle
(don't want associate roosts with stress/fear).

 

[Ted Brown]

@aart we made a start on this yesterday.

My sister and I both in the coop (having a coop that is tall enough to stand up and move around is a blessing), we used food placed along the ramp and roosts to entice some of the pullets up, they went to the top but did not go onto the roosts. Susan then bent over and picked up three from the floor and placed them on the roost bars; they stayed until the food was gone and then got off back to the floor. I did notice hesitancy to go from one roost bar to the other in front and also in getting from that roost to the edge of the drop boards, one just flew down no problem. Guessing that is just a familiarity thing.

Susan felt that we could have done a better job in picking a bird up. @jthornton in his thread on brooder boxes stated that it is much better to approach them other than towering over. I have a small plastic children's seat that we will use in the coop starting today, this will get us down to their level and avoid the in-breed fear of danger from on high. Having said that the birds clearly associate us positively as they all come to the front of the coop with heads high when we approach and also crowd the person door whenever someone opens it (they very much want to get outside). the fact that the coop is 3+ feet off the ground helps since the floor is close to waist height so we end up much shorter from their perspective.

I went out last night around 10pm, very dark out; the pullets were all awake but clustered in the south east corner. I will have to adjust my schedule to go out later to see when they actually fall asleep.

As usual thanks to the two of you for the sage advice.

 

[aart]

(having a coop that is tall enough to stand up and move around is a blessing)

No Doubt!! I couldn't 'do' chickens without that aspect to my coop.

they stayed until the food was gone and then got off back to the floor.

That sounds perfect! That they stayed up there, even if only to eat is key, IMO.
Yup, some familiarity is all it takes, well, that and a bit of time.
You can't really force them to do what you want, but you can highly suggest it.

I went out last night around 10pm, very dark out; the pullets were all awake but clustered in the south east corner. I will have to adjust my schedule to go out later to see when they actually fall asleep.

Don't have to wait until they are asleep, they'll wake up anyway when you go in, just so it's dark enough that they can't see to get down when you put them on the roost. I wear a dim headlight and keep it pointed up so as not to light up and 'escape path', just enough for me to see what I'm doing....and have both my hands free.
Use both hands to pin wings to body, place their feet on roost and gently let go with a little pat on the back...constant calm quiet voice.

 

[Ted Brown]

I modified the nesting box this morning. I took the bottom boards off then constructed a 3 sided "tray" two of which fit snugly over the bottom sides. I set the tray roll angle to 14 degrees (the angle suggested by the guy I watched on YouTube) but secured it such that the angle can be adjusted by removing the front two side screws. The top egg cover board done much like @jthornton, 3" of depth to allow the eggs to pass and removable but with a 1" by 1" length underside that "locks" the board in place. Need to get some carpet. As I said a picture is so helpful.

Not cabinetry but functional for my purposes.

 

[Ted Brown]

I just went into the coop and discovered two eggs in the back corner under the dropping board. One had been broken, the other intact and covered with egg yolk/white. No idea which two laid them but we do have two that have larger comb & waddles that are red in colour.

We three had a jolly laugh at Angie (lady at feed store) who warned that they would be over stressed and may not lay for a year.

 

[jthornton]

Chickens like to lay eggs where other chickens have laid an egg, so when you get the nest box in place block off the exit at first and place an egg looking object in there or a real egg so the pullets can see it. If you see one of the pullets sitting in the corner pick her up and put her in the nest box. Chickens stand up when they "drop" the egg out so hopefully that's what happened there and not one breaking and eating it.

JT

 

[Ted Brown]

... so when you get the nest box in place block off the exit at first and place an egg looking object in there or a real egg so the pullets can see it. JT

JT To clarify: you mean "block off the exit" of the nest box? Guessing you mean block off the area where the first eggs were first laid?

I have a stash of onyx eggs from Peru acquired many years ago, sister and I were just discussing digging them out for the purpose you describe.

 

[jthornton]

If you have built a roll out nest box where the egg rolls out of sight, block that off or put some straw in so your fake egg will stay visible. You may only have to do that one time.

JT

 

[Lizzy733]

Sounds like their conditions with you are much better than where they were acquired. A comfortable safe and spacious environment likely has them 'more' settled than they were before so I'm not surprised to see eggs already and they are definitely not stressed from the sound of it. Hybrids will generally lay through their first winter with or without supplemental lighting - those girls are machines and they can't hold off their egg production till spring.
Make sure they see you seeding the nest boxes with fake eggs - they should give them a thorough inspection and won't take long to pick up the hint. New layers make accidents - most don't seem to realize they've laid their first egg until it's happened so first time eggs can end up anywhere.
Since they're starting to lay, I would strongly recommend making sure they're moved up every night. Otherwise, you may end up with soiled nest boxes and that's a tricky habit to break once they've become accustomed to it - they may even be bold enough to make a move to the boxes after dark if they're not far from the perches.