Roost behaviour-anyone ever watched them?

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PinkMinnow said:
And it's really funny to see how they line up with each other...the way they group on the roosting bars is different than I would have anticipated based on the way they interact with each other when they're out and about.
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Hi @PinkMinnow :frow Welcome To BYC, glad you joined us!

It is interesting to see who wants to roost next to each other. Some that get along famously during the day seem to hate each other at night:lol:
 
PinkMinnow said:
the way they group on the roosting bars is different than I would have anticipated based on the way they interact with each other when they're out and about.
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I've never really noticed their interactions out and about. My backyard is huge, if I let them out of the run they are all everywhere, they don't really hang out together unless I remove something with lots of bugs underneath or something that attractst them to the same spot.

I went to check on things last night after dark. 4 of them were on the original roost, one was on the new roost (but on the support, not on the roost part, I don't know whether I disturbed her and she moved, or whether that's where she was perching) and the 2 little girls were in a nest box. Grrrr. That explains why it was/still will be full of poo. I suppose they are still too young to want to be "up there". They haven't got their proper combs and wattles yet, just those little pale ones that they start out with. I'll just have to be patient. (but I want the nest boxes for eggs, nice clean eggs, not for poo. sigh)

I'd love to put a spy camera in there, but I know I won't. I'd love to put a spy camera in the other house, I wonder how those little girls arrange themselves.
 
potato chip said:
and the 2 little girls were in a nest box. Grrrr. That explains why it was/still will be full of poo. I suppose they are still too young to want to be "up there". They haven't got their proper combs and wattles yet, just those little pale ones that they start out with. I'll just have to be patient. (but I want the nest boxes for eggs, nice clean eggs, not for poo. sigh)
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Take them out of the nests and put them on the roost, well after dark, often only takes a few nights of that for them to get the idea.

I have a permanent hinged cover for my nest bank, flip it down an hour or so before roost time, flip it back up when I lock up after dark. Last year it took 2 months for the youngsters to get the idea, this year only 2 days.
 
aart said:
Take them out of the nests and put them on the roost, well after dark, often only takes a few nights of that for them to get the idea.
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Yes, although at the moment, I'll probably just put up with it, because it's the middle of winter (EDIT, there are stairs up to the coop, harder to negotiate when all rugged up). When it warms up a bit, the girls will be fully grown and may have sorted it out themselves. I don't know whether the little girls got up there and the girl who was on "their" perch bullied them off, or what.
aart said:
I have a permanent hinged cover for my nest bank, flip it down
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I put one in the other house, when the girls were sleeping in there. Several girls spend all day in there (or always seem to be in there when I look).

In the big girls' house, I got 2 nest boxes with "rollaway" inserts. They wouldn't use them, and started laying on the floor, so then I moved it around so it was in the "floor spot" and they started using it. And then the little girls started using it as a bedroom. sigh. It's never ending :D.

Eventually, I'd like to cut into the side of the coop and install a flap/door, so I can get eggs without climbing up there, in the shorter term I'm going to put some of the original boxes back in. I don't know whether I'll persist with the "rollaway" box or sell it on.

I just wish they'd sleep where I want. They sleep up on top of the nest box, they sleep on top of the plastic bins I've got in there with food and bedding.... Most of them sleep on the perch like good girls, it may just be "bossy girl" (and now the new girls) who is sleeping elsewhere. When the new girls get bigger/more assertive, hopefully everyone will find her spot...
 
potato chip said:
...because it's the middle of winter (EDIT, there are stairs up to the coop, harder to negotiate when all rugged up).....
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Do you even get freezing temps there? (assuming 'rugged up' means bundling up in cold weather clothing) Feet of snow to shovel out of the way for months on end?

potato chip said:
I just wish they'd sleep where I want.
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You've got to outsmart them by arranging the coop to 'steer' them where you want them, basically give them no place to roost except where you want them to. ;)
 
aart said:
Do you even get freezing temps there? (assuming 'rugged up' means bundling up in cold weather clothing) Feet of snow to shovel out of the way for months on end?
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No, it's very mild, hardly cold at all. It's just that the stairs into the coop are a bit "wobbly". I don't much like going up them even in the day. When it's chilly, you want to do it in a hurry, and in a dressing gown and with socks on, I'm more likely to come a cropper than when I can just use my slip on shoes and light clothes and not be rushing to get back inside.

tl:dr I'm a wimp and want to stay warm inside :D

I need to put some more screws in the stairs (or something)
 
Most of ours have "roost mates" and I think it's interesting that in a lot of cases, they have different friends they forage with during the day than the ones they roost with. And other times, they switch off and end up with different "roost mates" and also it seems that a lot of them rotate roosting places. We do have a few that don't like sleeping with anyone, even in winter.
 
potato chip said:
When it's chilly, you want to do it in a hurry, and in a dressing gown and with socks on, I'm more likely to come a cropper than when I can just use my slip on shoes and light clothes and not be rushing to get back inside.
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:lau:lau:lau O.K. Tater Chip....you are going to have to explain that one to this 'ol country girl in NC. Just reading it I had to laugh, but I'm not sure what it quite means:lol:
 

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