Re-training Chickens to Roost?

[Sadness Child]

is the door halfway of the width, if so I suggest putting a roost 1 ft away from the wall to the left of the door as shown in the diagram, and on the right side next the the nest boxes I would put that roost about 4-5 ft high and about a 1-1/2 feet away from the wall as shown in the diagram, and as I said before it should run the length of the coop and these roosts given the right support should hold a lot of chickens and you can probably put a lot of chickens in there given that they have enough square feet in run and coop space

 

[Starburst]

Wow! Thank you so much! The door is about halfway of the width, so I think that will work. Thank you so much for your help! I will let you know if the chickens start roosting again.

 

[Sadness Child]

Ok if they do not naturally start roosting then you can put them on.

I think the higher roost was to close to the wall and the lower roost was to low

Please give updates

 

[Sadness Child]

Oh and since the higher roost is slightly above the nest boxes there is a slight chance that they poop on the door when the nest boxes are open

 

[aart]

Roost is too close to wall.
I would rebuild it by mounting on brackets like this:

You could even just use 2x2's....hard to see,but....

 

[Starburst]

Thank you for the ideas!

 

[Peppercorngal]

It's tough when the chickens didn't have the opportunity to roost when young. I was given 6 hens that never had a roost "growing up" and slept on the floor too. My other chickens showed them by example how to roost, and I think they got the idea quickly because the option was getting pooped on sitting on the floor under the other chickens! Too bad you don't have an "example" chicken for them to watch. Is that wallpaper in your coop?

 

[Starburst]

Thank you so much for sharing that experience! I do hope that the chickens will learn how to roost soon, as I have some little ones moving in the next month. And yes, that is wallpaper in the coop! I am planning to add some signs, but it was really fun to do, and it makes it easier to wipe down.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Roost is too close to wall.

x2. At a minimum you need 12" from roost to wall.

 

[Starburst]

Good news! went to the chicken coop tonight to put the hens on the roosts, and found them all lined up side by side on the top roost, with my hen Jasmine, who is at the bottom of the pecking order, on the lower roost.