Not sleeping on perches

[savannahm0m]

I actually put my birds on the roost for the first couple of nights. The first night, I had to put them in the coop. Once they got into the coop, I put them on the roost and they stayed put. The 2nd night, they went into the coop, but I had to put them on the roost. After a few nights, they figured it out.

 

[Fancypants1]

Do they need to roost? Is it a bad thing if they sleep on the top of the boxes or in the corner?? As for the polish ones, silly question but does it hurt to have their feathers cut or is it just like us cutting our hair??

 

[Ridgerunner]

My brooder raised chicks normally don’t start to roost until 10 to 12 weeks of age. Until then, they sleep together on the floor, usually in a corner. I have had 5 weeks olds roost and I’ve had some take a lot longer to start, but 10 to 12 weeks seems to be my average. I let mine roost when they decide to roost. If you have decorative chickens that can’t see or fly then things can be different.

Do they need to roost? No, not really. It won’t hurt them to stay on the floor. It may be a little harder to manage the poop if they are on the floor, you can put a droppings board under a roost to remove a lot of the droppings so poop management can be easier, but as long as you keep the poop from building up in their sleep area, it won’t hurt them.

They poop a lot at night. The reason you don’t want them sleeping certain places is you don’t want the poop there. That might be net boxes or places it is hard to clean the poop. Poop management is the only real issue. In spite of all you hear about how their feet get hurt if the roost on something flat or if they don’t roost on something flat (yes you hear arguments for both) they do fine either way.

Personally I like the nest boxes open before they start to lay. If I have a problem with the nests, maybe the lip is too low so they scratch out the bedding or they sleep in the nests, I want to correct that problem before they start to lay, not afterwards.

As long as the feathers are not actively growing it does not hurt to cut the feathers. If the vein of the feather is red it has blood in it and it is growing.

 

[Fancypants1]

What great information thank you! I can get inside the coop and clean the top of the boxes for poop so I guess if they are comfortable up there I will let them be. They are only 9 weeks so maybe they will figure it out. I will add some hay to the boxes once they get closer to laying. I just don't want them to think that they are beds and should sleep in them.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Also, lice, mites, ticks might be a bigger issue if they continue to sleep on the floor a long time. Those things can make it onto the roost too though.
Roosting is just an instinctive behavior that keeps them aloft to avoid some of the ground dwelling nocturnal predators that roam the jungle.

 

[janetaba]

Mine aren't sleeping on their perch either. They are just over two months old. We haven't built the nesting boxes yet, so that isn't the problem. We have a ladder built to go up to the perch.