New to chickens need advice

[Thunderduck9]

hi I have inherited 1 rooster and 2 hens from my elderly neighbor and i need some advice do they need a place to roost at night.They are in with my 10ducks

in there outside pen but my ducks play in the creek all day so most of the time they have the pen to themselves and at night i have a 5x5 house for the chickens i keep them in a different house at night than my ducks they seem to like it i have 2 nesting boxes but nothing like a pertch for them, they don’t seem to care the one hen made a nest in the hay and lays her eggs there not in there nesting box.They seem to be very happy they have always been cooped up in a chicken house now they have a big outside pen the rooster yells all day he is very happy.any pointers would be appreciated.
Thank you

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Hey! So you will need a rooster for the chickens.. as that is natural, and they can get major parasites from sleeping on the ground.. beautiful ducks!

 

[LozzyR]

Hi Thunderduck, what beautiful ducks and chooks you have!

I asked a breeder about roosting when I got my pullets. My two hens are ex-battery so have never roosted. They kept kicking the perches out of the little nooks so I ended up just taking them out. My pullets decided to sleep in the nesting boxes the first night I got them so I took the perch out of their pen as well.

The breeder said that sleeping on a high perch at night helps them to feel safe but if your chooks are locked in at night and nothing is able to dig under and into the pen then they will be safe enough. He also said it was considered “best practice” for them to roost rather than sleep in the nesting box so they don’t poo where they lay. He then negated that by saying they quite often poo in the nesting box anyway and if you’re not selling the eggs, it doesn’t really matter. Just wipe the egg down with a bit of bedding and wash your hands after handling them.

He also said that if you do let them roost, so make sure it’s wider rather than narrow, as they rest their chests against it and a narrow perch will put too much pressure against their insides in a concentrated area and is not good for them.

Hope that helps!

 

[Thunderduck9]

Thank you for the advice i will put a poll across the inside of the house for them to roost on

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Thank you for the advice i will put a poll across the inside of the house for them to roost on

Great!

 

[Roo5]

You do not need a rooster unless you plan on breeding/hatching your own chicks.

Hey! So you will need a rooster for the chickens.. as that is natural, and they can get major parasites from sleeping on the ground.. beautiful ducks!

Thunderduck roosting is very important glad your adding one!

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

You do not need a rooster unless you plan on breeding/hatching your own chicks.


Thunderduck roosting is very important glad your adding one!

sorry! That was auto-correct, I said roosting bar!