Odd roosting behavior

[texaschick84]

My chickens will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. Since they moved into the coop, they seem to roost o the ground. A few mornings I'd find some roosting on the sides of the nesting boxes or on the actual roosts. The coop has 3 places for roosting, 7 nesting boxes, and an "awning" above the boxes.

This evening, they were all roosting on top of the awning above the nesting boxes and they all seemed very unsettled. They were nudging/pushing each other to be closest to the window. Of course they didn't seem comfortable because the awning is mounted at an angle.

Are they establishing a roosting order? Or just discovering a new option for roosting? It was all just very strange to this newbie chicken lady.

 

[rIrs roost]

No telling. sounds like their getting established. I have one hen that sleep on a box that I made for hay. The lid is on an angle. The others all roost on the bar.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

They're shirring it or. In a flock with older birds or a hen raising them they'd follow the example of the other birds. Without other birds to copy they are following the instinct to roost without direction on where/how. You can help by placing them on the roost....usually a few days of that and they get the idea

 

[chickengeorgeto]

My chickens will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. Since they moved into the coop, they seem to roost o the ground. A few mornings I'd find some roosting on the sides of the nesting boxes or on the actual roosts. The coop has 3 places for roosting, 7 nesting boxes, and an "awning" above the boxes.

This evening, they were all roosting on top of the awning above the nesting boxes and they all seemed very unsettled. They were nudging/pushing each other to be closest to the window. Of course they didn't seem comfortable because the awning is mounted at an angle.

Are they establishing a roosting order? Or just discovering a new option for roosting? It was all just very strange to this newbie chicken lady.

I have never heard it called "A roosting order" but that is a great way to observe the pecking order in operation. You can never deduct "Who's Who in a flock of chickens any better than by observing your birds when they go to roost.

 

[centrarchid]

Consider adding a low wattage night light to coop and have it on starting one hour before they start going to the roost an keeping for another hour after. Or let it run all the time. If they suddenly start roosting up on roosts provided then stop using the supplemental light.

 

[aart]

My chickens will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. Since they moved into the coop, they seem to roost o the ground. A few mornings I'd find some roosting on the sides of the nesting boxes or on the actual roosts. The coop has 3 places for roosting, 7 nesting boxes, and an "awning" above the boxes.

This evening, they were all roosting on top of the awning above the nesting boxes and they all seemed very unsettled. They were nudging/pushing each other to be closest to the window. Of course they didn't seem comfortable because the awning is mounted at an angle.

Are they establishing a roosting order? Or just discovering a new option for roosting? It was all just very strange to this newbie chicken lady.

Welcome to BYC!
Your 'awning' must not be steep enough, eh?

I just had to adjust a wonky part of mine to due young chicks trying to roost there.
A couple got a tiny toe hold and a few more piled on, couldn't believe they stayed there tho they were very close to falling off....haha!

Are the roosts higher than nests and easy to get up to and down from?
I'd just move them after dark until they figure it out...usually doesn't take too long.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chicken TV can be better than anything on cable, antenna, or satellite. It can be entertaining and educational. The more you observe them the more you'll realize they will do what they do and it can be funny. Most of it doesn't put them in harm's way at all.

My brooder raised chicks typically start to spend the nights on the roosts around 10 to 12 weeks of age. I've had some start as early as 5 weeks and some take even longer but 10 to 12 is a pretty good average. Each brood is different. It sounds like yours may be ahead of the game. Mine often play on the roosts during the day, which I call perching, but roosting is where they spend the night up there. There can be a transition to the main roosts, but usually mine get up there pretty quickly once they start that transition. Until then, they sleep on the coop floor.

The jostling when they are settling in for the night is the pecking order in action. The ones higher in the pecking order get to sleep where they want and can be pretty rough in getting there. That's about the only time I see aggression in my flock, when they are settling in for the night. That continues when they are adults. It's just the way chickens are.

I've seen chicks and chickens try to perch and roost in some really strange places and on some weird things. They tend to want to sleep on the highest point possible so your roosts need to be the highest thing they can roost on. If you have sufficient roost length and they can get up and down they tend to wind up on them if they are the highest thing around.

I'm a lot more relaxed than some other people about this process and let them manage it, each brood is different. As long as they are not trying to sleep in my nests I don't worry about where they sleep or when they move to the roosts. The tops of my nests are not sloped, they are flat. I have a juvenile roost (lower than the main roosts and horizontally separated from the main roosts) positioned over my nests so juveniles have a safe place to go that is not my nests during integration. The tops of my nests are a droppings board during this process. We are all unique and have our own goals and management methods. I generally don't try to micromanage mine through any of this, they can find their own way, as long as they don't sleep in the nests and I can lock them up from predators at night.

What you are describing sounds normal to me. Good luck!

 

[texaschick84]

Welcome to BYC!
Your 'awning' must not be steep enough, eh?

I just had to adjust a wonky part of mine to due young chicks trying to roost there.
A couple got a tiny toe hold and a few more piled on, couldn't believe they stayed there tho they were very close to falling off....haha!

Are the roosts higher than nests and easy to get up to and down from?
I'd just move them after dark until they figure it out...usually doesn't take too long.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, my roosts are higher than the nests and they have easy access. I'm going to give it a few days to see if they can figure it out on their own first. If now, I'll try moving them after dark.

 

[Tlmcq]

I have tried breaking mine of sleeping in nest boxes and coop floor but they would all rather pile on the rooster that settles on floor rather than use the roosts. Most of the older ones no longer sleep in nest boxes but still on coop floor or edge of nest box. It's aggravating but I just clean nest boxes every 2 to 3 days. I'm hoping once I move and they get in bigger new coop they will roost. Thinking it may be cuz they all will not fit on one roost together and don't wanna separate between the 2 roosts

 

[sfgwife]

This is the first time we have had chickens... and ours must be overachievers. Cause at not quite five weeks all of ours were up on roosts all night. When they were a week old we put logs in the brooder and they played and slept on thos a lot then at three weeks we put up low roosts for them to putz on. Not thinkin they could get that high yet but boy oh boy could they lol. Then a few days later we added two more a lil higher (like stair steps) than the first and most were on those things. It only took maybe a week for them all to figure out how to get to the high ones to sleep at night. They had a shortie brooder with an openin to the crate that will quite comfortably hold my grown irish wolfhound and that was where we put the roosts. . We just thought this was normals.