New to BY chickens, perch question

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Welcome to BYC! Some of our younger chickens would not roost on their perch at night for several weeks, even though they would use it often during the day. Several weeks ago they just started using their perch at night. I agree withDobieLover that lowering the perch may help them assimilate to a perch better. Our first perch for the older girls was about 3" when they were about 3 weeks old, the next perch was about 14", and the older girls perch in the coop is only about 2 ft. from the floor.
 
vicki3barredrocks said:
Hi, my name is Vicki and I am new to backyard chickens. I helped my roomies in California care for 20-30 chickens for a couple of years and found them fascinating. I am in Texas now and I got barred-rock chicks this spring. I raised 8 chicks and gave 5 to a farmer friend. I kept just 3 for myself, as my mom and I, can only eat so many eggs.
My girls are 6 months old now and doing so well! I get 3 eggs most days, and two on the others. I recently started letting them out of their run and they love to forage in the deep leaf litter in the back yard. They stay very close to the run, and run in to the coop when they feel the urge to lay.

I put in a perch, about 3 feet off the ground and they aren't using it yet. Do I have to teach them?
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Glad to meet you, Vicki. Best wishes with your birds, and welcome to Back Yard Chickens. My larger birds don't like jumping down from too high of a perch, so I gave them a medium spot in between the high and the ground. In my case, I found a small table that I put in the coop and it gives them a landing spot and also protects their feed from poop falling from the perch.
 

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