New roosting behavior. Suggestions welcome

[Ridgerunner]

When you say the edge of the nest, are they roosting on the plywood there? ( that can't be comfortable)

Reminds me of a story. One bright calm sunshiny morning at freezing with frost on the ground our dog was laying on the front yard, head up and observing the world. My wife said "That dog must be miserable". That dog was not miserable, she was where she wanted to be. She had the option to be inside an attached garage that was almost warm enough for me to be in shirtsleeves. She wanted to be out there. What my wife meant was that my wife would have been miserable out there. Not the same thing.

I know you read where chickens "need" a wide flat place to sleep. I don't believe that for a minute. I've seen mature hens choose to sleep on a 3/4" thick piece of plywood sticking up. They managed fine. I've seen chickens play at perching on a 3/8" thick piece of plywood during the day. They'd often lose their balance after a few minutes, then fly back up there to do it again.

Chickens sometimes choose to sleep on wide flat places. Sometimes they choose to sleep on pretty thin supports.

I think so. I did not go out last night to witness the who and how. But it looks like they are roosting on the plywood .

For those concerned about the thickness I'd say put up a piece of 2x4 for them to perch on instead of the plywood. But for your situation I still think going out there after dark and moving them to where you want them to sleep is your best move.

 

[jreardon1918]

Reminds me of a story. One bright calm sunshiny morning at freezing with frost on the ground our dog was laying on the front yard, head up and observing the world. My wife said "That dog must be miserable". That dog was not miserable, she was where she wanted to be. She had the option to be inside an attached garage that was almost warm enough for me to be in shirtsleeves. She wanted to be out there. What my wife meant was that my wife would have been miserable out there. Not the same thing.

I love that story. It has a ring of truth.

I know you read where chickens "need" a wide flat place to sleep. I don't believe that for a minute. I've seen mature hens choose to sleep on a 3/4" thick piece of plywood sticking up. They managed fine. I've seen chickens play at perching on a 3/8" thick piece of plywood during the day. They'd often lose their balance after a few minutes, then fly back up there to do it again.

Chickens sometimes choose to sleep on wide flat places. Sometimes they choose to sleep on pretty thin supports.


For those concerned about the thickness I'd say put up a piece of 2x4 for them to perch on instead of the plywood. But for your situation I still think going out there after dark and moving them to where you want them to sleep is your best move.

I am normally up once a night to let out the dog. He let me sleep last night. I assume tonight I'll get a better view of what is happening. I might even move a camera in to get a good view. Let's see if I can make that work.
Thanks,
Jack

 

[Sic]

Reminds me of a story. One bright calm sunshiny morning at freezing with frost on the ground our dog was laying on the front yard, head up and observing the world. My wife said "That dog must be miserable". That dog was not miserable, she was where she wanted to be. She had the option to be inside an attached garage that was almost warm enough for me to be in shirtsleeves. She wanted to be out there. What my wife meant was that my wife would have been miserable out there. Not the same thing.

I know you read where chickens "need" a wide flat place to sleep. I don't believe that for a minute. I've seen mature hens choose to sleep on a 3/4" thick piece of plywood sticking up. They managed fine. I've seen chickens play at perching on a 3/8" thick piece of plywood during the day. They'd often lose their balance after a few minutes, then fly back up there to do it again.

Chickens sometimes choose to sleep on wide flat places. Sometimes they choose to sleep on pretty thin supports.


For those concerned about the thickness I'd say put up a piece of 2x4 for them to perch on instead of the plywood. But for your situation I still think going out there after dark and moving them to where you want them to sleep is your best move.

Funny story, my dogs go swimming in the ocean in winter here in Alaska - as soon as they get out of the water the water on their coat freezes and they're walking dog popsicles. They are free to do as they please, they haven't harmed themselves yet. My chooks don't get wide flat places, but they do get to pick and choose from variable branches of different circumferences. I use 1/2 inch plywood or siding in places I want to keep them off of - they might traverse it, but they don't linger on it, but I do have very large fowl with big feet

 

[Seaslug]

Wait, so are we suppose to follow the animal's lead, as they know what they can handle or are we suppose to make the animal do as we want... no doubt, animals can survive a lot.
As a side note about dogs and getting wet. We have owned Chesapeake Bay Retrievers for years, a breed known for relishing getting wet no matter what the temperature. When our first dog was 12 and dock jumping at the end of October he suddenly collapsed. Some knowledgeable friends got some sugary treats into his mouth pronto and he came around. I did some research and found out that most mammals are able to shake their coats of water at the perfect velocity to dry them -- but, as animals age, they lose some of this ability. Our Argus had DM and we did not realize that it was effecting his shaking to such a degree that he went into shock from hypothermia that day.
Always monitor your dogs as they get older (and your chickens, too), because things that they could thrive through just the previous year could be too much for them as they continue to age.

 

[jreardon1918]

I went out last night and found one hen roosting on the plywood edge of the nest box. She was facing into the main coop. I put her up on the roost. Not sure if she stayed. I will fashion a blocking device and put it out at dusk and remove at dawn. We'll see if that cures the issue.

 

[aart]

I went out last night and found one hen roosting on the plywood edge of the nest box. She was facing into the main coop. I put her up on the roost. Not sure if she stayed. I will fashion a blocking device and put it out at dusk and remove at dawn. We'll see if that cures the issue.

Might take a few, or more, nights.
Are they laying?

 

[jreardon1918]

Might take a few, or more, nights.
Are they laying?

I will go out at least once per night to see if that will reprogram her. They are not laying. I started the lighting program 12/26. I am hopeful they will start laying in the next month.

 

[aart]

I will go out at least once per night to see if that will reprogram her. They are not laying. I started the lighting program 12/26. I am hopeful they will start laying in the next month.

No need to remove the nest block daily then.

 

[jreardon1918]

No need to remove the nest block daily then.

That makes sense. I can leave it for week or two ans see if that does the trick.

 

[jreardon1918]

The nest block is complete. Easier than I thought. I will update in a few weeks. Thank you everybody for your thoughtful suggestions.