I can't believe I have to ask this, but how do you teach chickens to roost?
We have a chicken flock with 6 hens (mostly Barnevelders, one Buckeye). This fall, I added 3 Buckeye roosters in with them. I thought that after a couple days, the roosters would figure out the roost and join the hens at night. Nope.
A month or so later, I added 7 Buckeye pullets and one Delaware pullet into the coop also. The Delaware quickly figured out the roost because it allows her to get away from the roosters. She gets picked on, being the only white girl with all the brown birds. But the Buckeyes decided to stick with their own and they roost on the floor.
The roost is a little high - the lowest point is maybe 24 inches off the floor - but we have never had birds have trouble getting up there before. I did put a straw bale as a "step" but that didn't help. We tried going out after dark and picking up all the pullets and roosters and putting them on the roost, but by the time we got all 10 birds on the roost, the first 5 had left and the others followed. What else can I try to get these birds on the roost at night?
I tried to tell myself, "I don't care where they roost" but now that its winter, they spend a LOT more time inside. The coop floor isn't really that dirty, it has a thick layer of straw and we add fresh straw occasionally, but because they never leave the floor, some of the pullets are getting dirty feet. I'm getting tired of catching them to clean their feet. What else can I do?
We have a chicken flock with 6 hens (mostly Barnevelders, one Buckeye). This fall, I added 3 Buckeye roosters in with them. I thought that after a couple days, the roosters would figure out the roost and join the hens at night. Nope.
A month or so later, I added 7 Buckeye pullets and one Delaware pullet into the coop also. The Delaware quickly figured out the roost because it allows her to get away from the roosters. She gets picked on, being the only white girl with all the brown birds. But the Buckeyes decided to stick with their own and they roost on the floor.
The roost is a little high - the lowest point is maybe 24 inches off the floor - but we have never had birds have trouble getting up there before. I did put a straw bale as a "step" but that didn't help. We tried going out after dark and picking up all the pullets and roosters and putting them on the roost, but by the time we got all 10 birds on the roost, the first 5 had left and the others followed. What else can I try to get these birds on the roost at night?
I tried to tell myself, "I don't care where they roost" but now that its winter, they spend a LOT more time inside. The coop floor isn't really that dirty, it has a thick layer of straw and we add fresh straw occasionally, but because they never leave the floor, some of the pullets are getting dirty feet. I'm getting tired of catching them to clean their feet. What else can I do?
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