Perching Chickens

[jazzabelle]

Hello lil' chicken peeps!

I have a query

So, I'm pretty new to having chickens and I have an adult pekin and two baby pekins. So the adult hen and she has never perched. But recently I have been noticing that my two little boys have been running around trying to perch anywhere. Now, we weren't planning on having two boys but we bought them unsexed and thats just our luck.
So, in my coop, Maggie the hen sits and lays her eggs in the same nest, but im not sure whether I should install a perch for the boys to sleep on. Should this be inside, or outside undercover.

The boys are 11-12 weeks now.

THANKS!

 

[Judy]

Are you saying Maggie sleeps in her egg laying nest? Where do the other hens sleep?

You should always encourage chickens to sleep on roosts and not in nests, to keep the eggs clean. Just set them on the roost just after dark every night til they get the idea; usually takes a few days or a week. The 12 week olds may be a little young but I'd try to teach them, too. If someone persists on sleeping in the nest, close it off at night (a piece of cardboard is fine.) Hopefully they will all end up sharing the same perch/roost.

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
Next questions; where are you located and is the nest box higher than the perch? If so move the perch higher or nest box lower. Chickens will roost at the highest point they can get to.
Joe

 

[HorizonSon]

My baby chicks were playing on their little perch by the end of their first week. By the third week, some started napping/sleeping while perched.