Perchless silkie pile

[LovePBandJ]

I have tried to train my silkies to perch themselves, and still they pile. It’s a cute pile, but a pile nonetheless.
My three silkies are five months. They have not started laying, yet.
I have been putting them up on a perch every night for four months. They stay all night and some mornings are afraid to jump down.
I have cut their feathers around their eyes so they see better.
We have lowered the perch to four inches off the floor.

We rehomed an older silkie who didn’t fit with her flock. She perched herself on night two. Laid eggs in the nesting box. EASY! She’s been perching herself every night - until we gave up perching the original three. Now, she, too, has picked up the bad habit of sleeping in a nesting box. I know this is a no-no.

I can’t put the chickens to bed every night for the rest of their lives. What do I do now?

I’ve given up!

 

[AmeraucanaHank]

Silkies have a tendency of sleeping on the floor. How high up are your roosts?

 

[LovePBandJ]

Silkies have a tendency of sleeping on the floor. How high up are your roosts?

One is four inches, with a second perch at eight inches.

 

[AmeraucanaHank]

One is four inches, with a second perch at eight inches.

Ok, that seems good. I'm not sure what to say now.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Try having the perch on the floor. That way they just have to step on it. Even 4 inches might be a bit high for them at first

 

[LovePBandJ]

Ok, that seems good. I'm not sure what to say now.

I don’t feel so inept, now. Thanks fi yes the affirmation! I wonder if I should’ve forced them to perch-sleep when they were chicks. They didn’t like the perch when they were chicks, so I didn’t force it.

Try having the perch on the floor. That way they just have to step on it. Even 4 inches might be a bit high for them at first

I did floor level perch. Last night at bedtime I had to pull them out of the chicken pile in a nesting s to put them on the perch. A couple of them walked off and I put them back in the perch.

This morning when I checked for the night’s droppings I could see that one stayed on the floor level perch, the other two left it BUT PERCHED on the bedding frame NOT IN A PILE! I’ll take that as a win! An added bonus is that my experienced girl went to roost on the highest perch! I’m calling this a WIN! Now, if I can just advance to the point of not having to put them on some kind of perch every night.

Thanks for the advice. You’ve breathed a little life back into my efforts.

Try having the perch on the floor. That way they just have to step on it. Even 4 inches might be a bit high for them at first

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I agree some chickens just don't like to perch high or off the ground. My chickens are in my barn and most of them like to perch 2' off of the ground to all the way up in the 10' rafters. However, my Brahmas and Orpington don't really perch in the usual sense. There is an old kids jeep in the barn and my one brahma likes to sleep on the flatbed in the back while my other Brahma likes to curl up on the floor boards of the jeep. My Orpington prefers the pile 2x4s on the ground.

 

[LovePBandJ]

I agree some chickens just don't like to perch high or off the ground. My chickens are in my barn and most of them like to perch 2' off of the ground to all the way up in the 10' rafters. However, my Brahmas and Orpington don't really perch in the usual sense. There is an old kids jeep in the barn and my one brahma likes to sleep on the flatbed in the back while my other Brahma likes to curl up on the floor boards of the jeep. My Orpington prefers the pile 2x4s on the ground.

As long as they are not sleeping in the nesting boxes, it’s all good. Yours are driving a Jeep!

 

[KatiewithZena]

Hello all, I just have a question why is it bad for silkies to sleep in a nesting box?? I have 2 silkie hens and one silkie rooster, I got them all at 3 weeks old, they're super cute and inseparable, and they all sleep on top, under and beside each other in one of the two nexting boxes they have. There is a perch in the coop less than and inch off the wood shavings, but they only ever perch on it in the early morning when they are waiting for the coop door to open. I know this because I have an inferred camera in their coop they are just over 1 year old. And I desperately want them to go broody and hatch me some chicks, but still nothing....

 

[TX Chick Noob]

Hello all, I just have a question why is it bad for silkies to sleep in a nesting box?? I have 2 silkie hens and one silkie rooster, I got them all at 3 weeks old, they're super cute and inseparable, and they all sleep on top, under and beside each other in one of the two nexting boxes they have. There is a perch in the coop less than and inch off the wood shavings, but they only ever perch on it in the early morning when they are waiting for the coop door to open. I know this because I have an inferred camera in their coop they are just over 1 year old. And I desperately want them to go broody and hatch me some chicks, but still nothing....

Sleeping in nest boxes is bad because they poop while they sleep. This means they can end up with poop stuck in their feathers, plus it gets on the Nesting material and the eggs. Also, it makes it harder to tell when one is broody be user one of the signs is staying in the box all the time even at night. So even though they don’t have to roost “high up” it is better to discourage sleeping in the nest boxes and try to help them find a better place to sleep.