Official BYC Poll: What Do You Do To Make Your Chicks/Pullets Roost?

[BYC Project Manager]

Lots of humans overlook the importance of roosts (aka perches), but chickens don't. The natural way for a chicken to sleep is by sitting on a roost. In the wild, a flock of chickens tries to get as high off the ground as they can at night, most often in the branches of a tree. They do this to help them stay safe from land predators. Some chicks are already roosting at 2 weeks of age so when they head out to the coop, they know exactly what to do! Some may need a bit of coaching. So: What Do You Do To Make Your Chicks/Pullets Roost?

Please place your vote above, and please elaborate in a reply below if you chose "Other".

Further Reading:

• The perch experiment
• Perch for roost, shape/size experimental findings

Here's another interesting discussion around the topic:

• When Do Chicks Need A Roost?

Check out more exciting Official BYC Polls HERE!

 

[GC-Raptor]

I put them in the coop around 4 weeks old.
My coops have a roost just 18" high and they have no problem flying up to it.

At 5 weeks old only 4 of 8 sleep on the roosts as of this morning, but that's double a week ago.
I think all will be roosting in another week.

GC

 

[CluckerFamily]

I put a perch in the brooder for the chicks. They play on it during the day and start learning to roost at night when they are only a couple weeks old.

 

[RubelliteRose]

Mine have access to a baby roost at a week old and they start playing on it by 2 weeks. They usually all roost for the night before 6 weeks old. (Roost is in the top of the picture, Sage is standing on the cardboard I use to cover the gap between the two dog crates we use as a brooder)

 

[Tre3hugger]

I have never done anything extra. Just provide a roost in the big girl coop, and they use it naturally.

 

[Tre3hugger]

 

[K0k0shka]

I put a baby roost in the brooder and they start playing on it at 2 days old. I give them higher roosts as they grow, and eventually they start using them at night as well. Age of roosting at night seems to depend a lot on the breed. In my experience, barnyard mixes roost for the night younger (couple of weeks) especially if raised by a broody who likes heights. My Orpingtons and Barnevelders, on the other hand, don’t care much for roosts and heights and don’t start roosting at night until 8-10 weeks old. And my broody Barnevelder still slept on the floor with her barnyard mix chicks when they were one month old! That’s when I rehomed them, and on their first night away from lazy mom they said “wheeeee, a roost!” and went right up. A few days later they were sleeping in the rafters, 7 feet up, while their Orpington sisters of the same age (and without a broody holding them back) were still sleeping on the floor…

 

[Aunt Angus]

Of my 9 chickens, all but one learned to roost on their own, no intervention/training required.

Iris, my big fluffy Cochin, used to not roost, and I'd put her up on the roost every night. Turns out, all I needed to do was install a lower roost for her. She roosts about 6 inches off the floor without my help.

Jessamine, however, was a rescue chicken. She didn't have a roost in all her years (until now). She prefers to sleep on the coop floor with the duckies.

 

[kerbotx]

If I'm the one raising them, I give them a roost of some kind right from the get-go, small in diameter & set real low. As they grow bigger, I raise the roost & swap it out with something bigger as needed. It gives them something to play with & hop over until one day, it just clicks. It makes transitioning to the big coop that much easier.

If a mama hen is doing all the work, I still have roosts available, but I let her decide. I've had some prefer a nest for 7 weeks, her & the babies all spread out across 3 of the 6 hole nesting box, and other mamas who have their chicks up on the roost with the main flock & daddy by 3 weeks. (An upside down bar stool was drafted for service!) Early introduction helps IME.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

All my chicks have wanted to roost on the highest possible location (usually me!) as soon as they are no longer sleeping under momma or the brooder. I sit with the flock during the day and the chicks all seem to want to nap or preen on my lap, shoulders, or head! My Mother’s Day chicks were raised by my Speckled Susse, Dottie, and are already sleeping on the roosts with the rest of the flock.