Sounds like you nailed it the first time. They will get there. Good luck tonight. It usually only takes 3 times I think to get them acclimated. EXCELLENT,@BY Bob :
The short version:
No
- Did they go in with the big ladies on their own?
2.Did you block off access to their little house?
If you did block off access, did they go to the little house to sleep first?
- Yes.
- No.
- Did the Big Ladies have any say in how they wound up roosting?
- Not really
- I don't remember the littles actually using a roost to sleep previously, do you think they learned this from watching the Bigs?
The longer version:
- No.
Once the Littlies had gone into the big coop I shut the gate. This gave them time on their own to explore & get used to the layout. I let the big girls in for their dinner & fed everybody together. The Big Girls tended to hog the sandpit, the Littlies the stumps. I added an extra stump so they could all manage to cuddle together.
The Big Girls have always roosted earlier than the Littlies so they went upstairs about 45 minutes before it began to get dark & more or less sorted themselves out. Beatha is always last.
The Littlies hadn't ventured upstairs so I knew they wouldn't know where they were supposed to sleep & I expected a bit of fuss to get back to the little coop. No fuss. They began their bedtime peeping & looked like they were prepared to settle on the stumps. Only Olivia & Desdemona looked @ the gate as if expecting to be taken back to the little coop but as everyone else was stumping they stumped too.
I figured Regan was key so I lifted her onto the lowest roost because that's the one I can reach without climbing into the coop. It took several tries but as it got darker she was prepared to settle. She is also the one who has really wanted to roost but the babies have insisted on the cuddle puddle to date. I tried the little frizzles but they didn't want to roost. Eventually I got both Japanese bantams together & settled them beside Regan. Portia upset everything by insisting on roosting next to Regan & climbed all over everybody to do just that. Titania wanted to roost under Portia & sat on Desdemona so I had to shift everybody along a bit so poor Desi wasn't completely squashed! I eventually convinced Glorianna to roost on the end. She wasn't happy. The bigger girls have always cuddled together with the little girls tucking in under them.
The surprise was Olivia. She hopped from where I'd put her on the lower roost to the 2nd bar, saw all the older girls had a grand view , spotted an empty slot & shot into it with no compunction @ all. There were a couple of token pecks from her companions but they were prepared to accept her. I was stunned.
I went out about 5.30 this morning. The Big Girls were all downstairs but I had dropped the curtain because of the rain & the Littlies, though awake, were unsure of how to get out. Desdemona was on the 2nd roost, Olivia still on the highest. They both found getting down more problematic than getting up.
Everyone found the stairs challenging but everyone is up fed & watered. There is a little bit of squabbling going on but it has gone pretty smoothly I think.
I have answered them. You can choose between the short or long version. 
But I figured not everyone would want to wade through the whole thing.
