Night three in their coop and half still pile up in the corner

[User395221]

My isa browns have never roosted other than for a little while when I put them there, they sleep on the floor (in the nest boxes, when they were in the other house).

My "silly chooks" who are now in the big house get up on the roost, but they don't make use of the space, they huddle and sit on top of each other.

I wouldn't worry about where they want to sleep and just let them do as they please. If they are dry and safe, I don't waste any more worry than that. They are not going to co-operate with what they "should" be doing so I just accept that.

 

[Birdydeb]

Oh, I don't care where or how they sleep at all once I was assured it was all normal behavior. But you know how it goes....they will find the spot they can get in the most trouble. They were piling up in the corner where the old pop door was and it was not as secure as I would like. All we had done was nail the thin plywood shut. And they were noisy about it ....squabbling and fighting to fit themselves into the indentation in the wall. At 10:30 at night I was in the yard with one of my dogs and I could hear them across the yard still squabbling. My imagination had me thinking a raccoon would be alerted and could rip that old door open and 6 chicks would roll right out at its feet. Well hubby took care of that yesterday with screws instead of nails and you can no longer tell a pop door was there. I went down and checked after I shut up the coop. They were still piling in that corner but at least now it is a safer spot. Still dividing up six and six but I guess that is just how it goes.

 

[User395221]

they will find the spot they can get in the most trouble.

oh yes, that's true. It's a "gift"....

 

[Lookin4GoodLife]

You might try turning off their light. When I first put my chicks in their coop, it was still cool at night and I was using a timer to leave their heat lamp on at night and turn it off during the day. I think the light provided a little *too* much comfort for them because they didn't want to go in the coop at night, they'd hang out in the door, they'd sleep on the floor, they'd party all night, etc. I said to heck with this and turned the light off. The first night, they didn't want to go in and then they slept on the floor like they didn't know what to do even though they had been up on their roosts before. The 2nd night, they were up on their roosts at dusk like good little chickens and they've been ok ever since. I'm with Potato Chip, secure your coop as best you can and then don't worry about what they do. As long as they're not fighting, they'll work it all out sooner or later.

 

[DanEP]

At their age they don't need the light so turn it off.They will come together as one flock but in their own time don't worry about it. They just have to get to know each other and work out the pecking order to settle down and all roost together some girls just do it faster than others. Just be aware that pecking order is a fluid thing and can change quite often while their growing and the fussin at bedtime is normal. 2 year old hens that were hatched together still have to figure out who's sleeping where every night. The good news is that when they roost and pecking order is their problem not yours as long as nobody's bleeding. Once they get things worked out they will all roost together but untill then sleeping on the floor won't hurt a thing, some chickens like silkies may never roost.