New Flock isn't laying or roosting - please help

[aart]

Joel Salatin is master marketer.....and this sure looks like a factory farm.
Tho I do respect his land conversion practices.

 

[Peppercorngal]

Joel Salatine, another YouTube favorite of mine, raises commercial laying chickens in a large barn type enclosure and does not use any roosts at all for his birds. He just lets them sleep on the deep litter. He stated that he used to have roosts for his chickens, but half never used the roosts anyway. So now he just lets them all sleep on the deep litter and it works out better for him.

All my chickens use a roost bar for sleeping at night, but I suppose I would not be too concerned if some did not use the roost. As long as they appear happy and healthy, it's all good for me.

Here is the YouTube video of Joel Salatine and his winter setup for chickens where he is asked specifically about not having any roosts in his barn....

It's a natural desire for chickens to roost. They want to get "up" and away from predators and it's an instinct for them. If they have no roost, of course they won't roost! Mine love to be up in the rafters, the higher the better.

 

[aart]

It's a natural desire for chickens to roost.

I'm not buying Salatin's claim either...you can see they roost on top of the nest banks.

 

[sneakytoes02]

do they have mites? No butt feathers and other feathers in bad shape makes me wonder. They are lucky they have you for TLC

No Mites, and their feathers are starting to grow back really nice now its been a few weeks. I will post updated pics soon, the snow has started melting, so I was hoping to catch one or two outside, they keep looking, and then backing back inside.

 

[sneakytoes02]

How much light are they getting? Hens need 14 hours of light to get the hormones to the correct level. Our girls stop laying in the dead of winter and have just now started laying again and we are Nor California.

If you want chickens to lay in the winter, you need to add artificial light to the coop. It should really be early morning hour light rather later in the evening.
Good luck.

I will try switching them from a red light to a white one, and see if that helps. I started with red, because I was worried about them feather pecking each other, as they were not used to being all together, and their poor feathers were such a mess. Thanks.

 

[sneakytoes02]

So it's been a while, and spring seems to be here finally. Still some patches of snow, but only -1C overnight. Hopefully the last frost so planting can start this week. Anyway my girls have started venturing out into the run, and their feathers are starting to look fab. We lost a couple more due to frostbite and one to unknown causes. I now have 19 beautiful ladies who are leaning everyday how to scratch, dust bath and roost. Even getting eggs now, between 6 and 12 a day! They go crazy for dried meal worms. Lol. Anyway, here are some pictures of my beautiful girls.

 

[Onyxflock]

So it's been a while, and spring seems to be here finally. Still some patches of snow, but only -1C overnight. Hopefully the last frost so planting can start this week. Anyway my girls have started venturing out into the run, and their feathers are starting to look fab. We lost a couple more due to frostbite and one to unknown causes. I now have 19 beautiful ladies who are leaning everyday how to scratch, dust bath and roost. Even getting eggs now, between 6 and 12 a day! They go crazy for dried meal worms. Lol. Anyway, here are some pictures of my beautiful girls.View attachment 2106955View attachment 2106957View attachment 2106958

They are so cute! Compared to the first photos, they've come a long way. I bet they'll love your garden scraps. Good Show chicken Mama!

 

[ariri30]

They are so cute! Compared to the first photos, they've come a long way. I bet they'll love your garden scraps. Good Show chicken Mama!

Lovely

 

[Buckeye Amy]

They look great! Good job!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

They do look very nice, and hooray on the eggs! A little kitchen scraps is fine, but think of it as cake and ice cream for your kids. A little bit is the key. If you give them too much, they'll miss out on the balanced nutrients of their formulated chicken feed and may become overweight. Enjoy your chooks!