Perches

[Springtime47]

What age can I introduce a perch into my brooder? My chick loves to perch on my finger so I thought I should set one up in his box, but I'm sure I read somewhere that it is bad for their feet when they are young. He is about 6 days old by the way.

 

[noitulover]

mine like to hop on the perch every so often at about a week. they don't really start using it and sitting on it for long periods until 2-4 weeks. i would put it in so they can have the option to learn though!

 

[newchicksnducks]

I put a small (1-2 in) diameter branch held off the floor at one end by a 3 inch piece of 2x4 in the brooder when the chicks were 1 week old. They could jump on the end laying on the floor and work their way up to the 3" high section. As they grew, I made a 2x4 mini roost about 2' long and held up about 6-8 inches off the floor. My 3 week old Dom, Astrolorp, BO, and Jersey all love to play on it. They still sleep on the shavings, altho one practiced sleeping on the roost while the others cuddled on the floor during nap time yesterday afternoon!

 

[daisy_dukers]

I put in a perch for mine on the weekend....they love it...On the downside they can now hop from the perch to the top of the feeder and leave me "presents"...aka poop...

 

[cmom]

Here is a picture of one of my brooders with Roosts. I have it in their brooder from day one. They are busy eating in the pic but the do use it.

 

[Judy]

Never read that it's bad for their feet, but maybe it can be.

Adults prefer the wide side of a 2x4 as chickens are not birds that like to wrap their feet around a roost. Babies don't actually need a roost, but they often enjoy it and play on it. So if you want to be safe, I'd say the way to go is make it wide and flat, like maybe 2" wide for babies.

 

[elmo]

What could be bad for a bird's feet is to have no choice about the surface to rest on. Variety is good, so the bird can pick where she's most comfortable from time to time.

That's why for parrots you put many different diameter perches into their cages. For chickens in wire bottom cages, it's good to have a place where they can rest their feet from the wire. A chicken's toes really aren't designed to grasp, so a rounded perch isn't going to be the most comfortable for them for an extended time, but it does help them exercise their little muscles to be able to hop up there and enjoy the view.

 

[briakreager]

That's good...

 

[JReedy72]

Quote:
I did not know that. I have a thick round branch in my coop, but I do not think the girls use it at night. They are about 16 weeks now, and I don't think they ever sit on the roost. I will take it out and put in a 2x4 and see how that works out.

Thanks,

Jason